The Night Tiger Summary
Yangsze Choo

The Night Tiger Overview

The Night Tiger is a novel by Yangsze Choo. It is a historical novel set in 1930s colonial Malaysia, written as a coming-of-age story, a murder mystery, a fantasy tale, and a romance all at once. Ji Lin, who is a dressmaker and dance hall instructor, finds herself in possession of the missing finger of a weretiger. She must return it to its grave or the weretiger will wreak havoc in her district. Along the way, the weretiger's houseboy Ren crosses paths with Ji Lin. They meet not by choice, but destiny, and they are all named after three of the five Confucian virtues. Choo explores themes of humanity, virtue, fate, agency, and reality.