Night of the Water Spirits

by Barbara Bisco

When a young Thai girl meets her American cousin for the first time their relationship gets off to an inauspicious start. But on a night when Bangkok's Chao Phraya river is allight with offerings to the water spirits, their feelings for each other change. Reunited as adults, Panida and Teddy defy taboos and turbulent marriages to other people and begin a love affair that forces them both to challende their most deeply held beliefs.

From a deserted Thai temple to one of Indonsesia's most dangerous inslands, this is a book about passion, betrayal, spirits, komodo dragons, drug lords, the Boxing Day tsunami, the search for belonging in the global village, and a love that begins on the Night of the Water Spirits.

A spellbinding tale of age-old taboos and modern relationships set amidst the gleaming shrines and candle-lit waterways of Bangkok.

Genres: Fiction

585 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2011

About the author

Barbara Bisco is the author of three novels, all of which are set in Asia where she has spent the last thirty years, much of it in Thailand and Indonesia. Whilst in Asia, Barbara worked for the National Museum in both Bangkok and Jakarta. Her daughter was born in Indonesia and the whole family thinks of it as a second home. Although London is now her first home, Barbara is originally from New York. She has a bachelor’s from Harvard and a PhD from Cornell. Barbara’s short stories have been published in the book ‘Bangkok and Beyond’.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The male main character was way too much of a jerk without any redeeming qualities at all for this romance to work for me. Chauvinist, mean to his kids, cheats on everyone, spoiled, selfish. I didn't want these two to be together at all, but then you feel bad for their children. This book made me delete all of my other e-book Amazon authors from my Kindle. I don't feel I have time to maybe find one good read out of every 30 I try. No no no.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bisco's second novel is perceptive, funny, 'pacey' and deceptively deep in its wisdom. I love how she handles her characters, with a deft, worldly, tolerant touch ... But it's the bicultural side of her work that intrigues me most. I stayed up late and was glad the book was too fat for me to devour all in one night. There's a lot of dialogue, which interested me as a fellow writer---it makes the action seem to romp and rip along.

[Jasmine]

I have something bugging me, correct me if I'm wrong. but wasn't The Jakarta Post only just founded in 1983, while as on page 135 Lisa was reading it when she was living in Jakarta in the year 1971?

[Maddi shae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf’d at 157 pages.

[Margaret Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story okay although I thought more could have been made of it. My problem is that I didn't like the two main characters.

[Shawnee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story takes place over the span of forty-six years and follows the story of two cousins: Teddy and Panida (Panda). After being thrown together for a few weeks as children, they initially dislike each other but soon form a close bond. As adults, they fall in love and remain so, despite being married to other people.

If you’re the kind of reader who must be able to sympathize with the characters to enjoy a book, this one might not be for you. The leading man (Teddy) is a self-entered womanizer who bullies his wives and is indifferent to his kids. In fact, it’s rather difficult to like any of the men in this book. Panda, on the other hand, seems like a character with more depth. She tries to do the right thing, but can’t resist Teddy. Personally, I like real and imperfect characters. These two are as imperfect as they come.

There were times where I felt that the book dragged on with unnecessary details. And, while I won’t spoil it, I was rather disappointed with the ending. Still, this is a good story with a lot of depth. I like the author’s description of Thailand and the way Panda feels pulled between her European and Thai heritage. Overall, it was a decent read.

[Roger D Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just excellent. I have always loved Thailand anyway, and am so glad to see a good contemporary piece of fiction set there. Roger D (orang hutan watchers)

[Briony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good holiday read the fact that it's set in Thailand and Indonesia appealed to me - nice enough but not particularly memorable

[Claire Meadows]

The male protagonist is such in an idiot that I didn't carry on after about 120 pages. Two dimensional, hardly believable characters. Won't be reading anymore by this author.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brilliant evocative read...