Sister Snake

Koe (Delayed Rays of a Star) draws on Chinese mythology for this brilliant story of two sisters who were born as snakes in 815 China and live as women in contemporary New York City and Singapore. At the novel’s outset, Emerald is on a date with Giovanni, her billionaire sugar daddy, in Manhattan. The night takes a turn for the worse after she takes a sip of his whiskey, as alcohol can make her deadly. During a late-night tryst in Central Park, Emerald mutates into a green-hued snake and bites Giovanni, nearly killing him before she is shot by a cop. Her sister, Su, the wealthy wife of Singapore’s minister of education, learns of the attack online and realizes Emerald was involved. She flies from Singapore to New York, where both Giovanni and Emerald are recovering from their wounds. In backstory, Koe portrays Su’s and Emerald’s lives as snakes at a lake in Hangzhou, where Su is violently assaulted by a group of male snakes and Emerald nurses her back to health. Several centuries later, in 1615, they transform into beautiful women, but the sisters find human relations far more complex than those in the animal kingdom. Koe chronicles their efforts to protect one another during subsequent trials and tribulations, which culminate in Su’s shocking actions to avenge Emerald against the manipulative and verbally abusive Giovanni. Throughout, the author seamlessly integrates centuries of Chinese culture and history with shrewd social commentary on class, gender, and race. This propulsive story astonishes. Agent: Jacqueline Ko, Wylie Agency. (Dec.)