Water Ghosts, Paperback

A mesmerizing debut novel that weaves history and mythology around a community of Chinese immigrants and the ghosts that haunt them

Locke, California, 1928. Three bedraggled Chinese women appear out of the mist in a small Chinese farming town on the Sacramento River. Two are unknown to its residents, while the third is the long-lost wife of Richard Fong, the handsome manager of the local gambling parlor. As the lives of the townspeople become inextricably intertwined with the newly arrived women, their frightening power is finally revealed.

A lyrical imagining of what happens when a Chinese ghost story comes true, Water Ghosts is a rich tale of human passions and mingling cultures that will appeal to readers of Lisa See, Anchin Min, and Gail Tsukiyama.

About the Author:

Shawna Yang Ryan was born in Sacramento, California, and received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and her MA from the University of California, Davis. In 2002, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan. Water Ghosts, originally published as Locke 1928, was a finalist for the 2008 Northern California Book Award. She currently lives in Berkeley.