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    Water Ghosts: A Novel
    Water Ghosts: A Novel
    Water Ghosts: A Novel
    Audiobook6 hours

    Water Ghosts: A Novel

    Written by Shawna Yang Ryan

    Narrated by Laural Merlington

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Locke, California, 1928. Three bedraggled Chinese women suddenly appear out of the mist one afternoon in a small Chinese farming town on the Sacramento River, and their arrival throws the community into confusion. Two of the women are unknown to the townspeople, while the third is the long-lost wife of Richard Fong, the handsome manager of the local gambling parlor, who had left her behind in China many years earlier and had not yet returned for her.

    Richard's wife's unexpected arrival complicates his life in no small way-not least with two prostitutes at the local brothel he frequents. One, the beautiful young Chloe, depends on him but has eyes for someone else, someone even more forbidden: the local preacher's daughter. The other, Poppy, the psychic madam of the brothel, is desperately in love with Richard, and she begins to sink into despair as he grows further and further away from her.

    As the lives of the townspeople become inextricably intertwined with the newly arrived women, Poppy's premonitions begin to foretell a deep unhappiness for all involved. And when a flood threatens the livelihood of the entire town, the frightening power of these mysterious women who arrived in the mist will be revealed.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMay 4, 2009
    ISBN9781400181858
    Water Ghosts: A Novel

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    Reviews for Water Ghosts

    3/5

    29 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)One of the biggest pleasures of running this website is the chance to discover new books recommended to me by other writers I admire; take for example California author Jason Riley, who earlier this year sent along to me the novel Water Ghosts by his buddy Shawna Yang Ryan, under the belief that I would enjoy it too. And enjoy it I did, although I should warn you off the bat that it's a very academic style of novel, and that you will need to be at least partly a fan of academic fiction to have even a chance of enjoying it yourself. It's essentially the tale of a small Chinese-Amerian town in California called Locke in 1928, after the gold rush but before World War Two; and like all good academic fiction, instead of being based around a fast plot, it's much more a deep examination of the various people who live in this town, including the salty female owner of the local brothel, the slick gambling-hall manager who is her biggest client, the two prostitutes who he is in love with, one of whom is half-white, the preacher's daughter who the half-white woman in turn is in love with, and more. When, then, a mysterious refugee ship shows up out of the blue, carrying three emaciated women including the merchant's wife from back in China, the subsequent reverberations turn the town into turmoil; and indeed, also in good academic fashion, Ryan uses this development to examine in a poetic, magical-realism way whether these refugees are in fact the anciently superstitious "water ghosts" of the book's title. A delicate work full of beautiful prose, this is exactly the ticket for those who are existing fans of, say, Joyce Carol Oates or Amy Tan; but if you're not a fan of these other authors, it'd probably be best just to skip this title altogether.Out of 10: 8.4
    • 4/5
      I had to read this book for a class on the American Gothic, and I am so glad I did. This is truly an amazing work, unlike anything I've read before. Stylistically it is as jarring as the three boat women -- there are no quotation marks, leading to a lyrical sort of reading with multiple interpretations. The mixing of cultures and traditions leads to a unique setting during a difficult time in American history.
    • 2/5
      I expected a lot more from this book than I actually got. This book had me scratching my head at the end of it, wondering what the point was of the story.
    • 2/5
      This was an interesting read. It was my first Goodreads Giveaway win, so thanks to Goodreads and the ones that opened the contest! This was a quick, light read, but it was a little difficult to follow. There aren't any quotation marks used when people speak, so it's hard to decide what's spoken word and what is thought. The time-line also jumps around a bit, but eventually, the storyline of the characters unfold and the ending was pretty good.To be honest, the ending was probably the best part. I can't give too many stars to it because I've certainly seen historical Chinese stories done better. But if you're looking for a quick read to break up your day, than give Water Ghosts a shot.
    • 1/5
      Not much happened.
    • 4/5
      “Water Ghosts” is a mysterious little book that primarily takes place in Locke, California, a town comprised mainly of Chinese immigrant men in 1928. At the time, the US government was severely regulating Chinese immigration to the United States by rarely allowing women to come over with their husbands. This policy meant that a huge stir was created when three mysterious women showed up on a boat in the river on a day when all the townspeople of Locke are at the river for a celebration. One of the women is the wife of a man in town, a wife he has not seen for many years. Of the other two, one is married to a man who is somewhere in the United States and the other is unwed. The idea that there are now available women in their town drives many of the men crazy, forcing them to do desperate things to be noticed by these women. And yet, something about these women isn’t quite right. They have an ethereal, almost ghostly quality.The book itself was definitely an interesting look at the life of a small, rural immigrant community in California in the first part of the last century. Most of the characters were quite interesting too. I did find the book a bit hard to follow, particularly at the beginning. There are no quotation marks for the dialogue and the narration jumps around not only between characters but between time periods: from the ‘present’ of Locke in 1928, to earlier periods in both China and California. That being said, I felt that the ending really brought all of the disparate pieces of the story together for an absolutely fantastic finish. The last 30 pages or so had me completely in their grip.Whether or not you will enjoy this book probably depends on how much tolerance you have for a story with shifting view points and time periods (and no quotation marks!) and how much a great ending can redeem a complicated read for you.