Ren is an eleven-year-old houseboy with a mission: to find his dead master’s finger, severed and lost years ago, and bury it with his body. Nearby, Ji Lin is a young woman working as a dancehall instructer in order to pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. Their paths become entangled when Ji Lin mysteriously inherits a grisly token from one of her dance partners. Set in colonial Malaysia, Yangsze Choo’s novel is part murder mystery, part fable, part love story, and a delightful inversion: a story of colonialism in which the white foreigners form the backdrop. A gorgeous, satisfying read.