The Black Isle

All my life, people have tried to erase me. I refuse to let them win. I will tell my story. I will not become a ghost. Uprooted from Shanghai with her father and twin brother Li, young Cassandra finds the Black Isle's bustling, immigrant-filled seaport, swampy jungle, and grand rubber plantations a sharp contrast to the city of her childhood. And she soon discovers something more: the Black Isle is home to a myriad of restless ghosts--ghosts that only she can see. Haunted and lonely, Cassandra at first tries to ignore the apparitions that crouch in the corner of her bedroom, parade down the street, and hang from the ceiling fan at school. Yet despite her struggles with these spirits, Cassandra comes to love her troubled home. And soon, she attracts the notice of a dangerously charismatic man. But as she grows into a fearless, strong young woman, the Isle's dark forces won't let her go. War is looming, and Cassandra wonders if her unique gift might be her beloved island's only chance for salvation . . . Taking readers from the 1920s, through the Japanese occupation during WWII, to the island's radical transformation into a bustling cosmopolitan city, THE BLACK ISLE is a sweeping epic--a deeply imagined, fiercely original tale from a vibrant new voice in fiction.

Sandi Tan was born in Singapore and has an MFA in screenwriting from Columbia University. Her short films have been shown around the world at venues such as the New York Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, MoMA, and on European television. She lives in Pasadena, California, with her husband, the critic John Powers, and their bossy Siamese, Nico. You can visit her website at www.SandiTan.com. The Black Isle is her debut novel.