Black Water Sister (2021)

Jess returns to Malaysia and discovers that her dead grandmother has unfinished business with a local deity. Cho places spirit mediumship within Penang’s Chinese Malaysian family life, language and religious practice; the title’s goddess belongs to the novel’s invention. Its sharp family conversations are as important as its haunting. A contemporary, sometimes frightening story about obligation, sexuality and power, best read without expecting every cultural reference to arrive with a glossary.