Sister Snake
A glittering, bold, darkly funny novel about two sisters—one in New York, one in Singapore—who are bound by an ancient secret.
Sisterhood is difficult for Su and Emerald. Su leads a sheltered, moneyed life as the picture-perfect wife of a conservative politician in Singapore. Emerald is a nihilistic sugar baby in New York, living from whim to whim and using her charms to make ends meet. But they share a secret: once, they were snakes, basking under a full moon in Tang dynasty China.
A thousand years later, their mysterious history is the only thing still binding them together. When Emerald experiences a violent encounter in Central Park and Su boards the next flight to New York, the two reach a tenuous reconciliation for the first time in decades. Su convinces Emerald to move to Singapore so she can keep an eye on her—but she soon begins to worry that Emerald’s irrepressible behaviour will out them both, in a sparkling, affluent city where everything runs like clockwork and any deviation from the norm is automatically suspect.
Razor-sharp, hilarious, and raw in emotion, Sister Snake, a reimagining of The Legend of the White Snake, is a novel about being seen for who you are—and, ultimately, how to live free.
“Amanda Lee Koe’s tale of serpentine sisterhood will wend its way into your heart. Drawing equally from folklore and current events, this fearless novel entertains and delights. Beneath its beguiling surface, Sister Snake explores fundamental questions: Are our destinies determined by our bodies? What forms can family take? And what, in the end, does it mean to be human?”
—Rajesh Parameswaran, author of I Am An Executioner
Read the first pages →
Also by Amanda Lee Koe: Ministry of Moral Panic
Sister Snake
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Reviews
"Intoxicating, sparkling, devastatingly witty and just plain devastating–Amanda Lee Koe’s freaking genius queer feminist spin on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake is one of my favorite retellings of all time! I can’t wait to re-read this book.” —Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl
"Amanda Lee Koe has written a wild, sexy steroidal burst of a novel. A freewheeling retelling of an ancient Chinese legend, Sister Snake is an inquiry into self-reinvention, escaping one’s destiny, belonging and all that makes us human–or not.” —Tash Aw, author of We, The Survivors and Five Star Billionaire
"Slick, shrewd, and brimming with suspense, Sister Snake explores the unspeakable cost of staying true to who you are in a world built on lies. Amanda Lee Koe delivers a thrilling, action-packed fable made for these topsy-turvy times.” —Kirstin Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Counterfeit
"This was a wild ride and I loved every second of it.” —Jami Attenberg, New York Times bestselling author of A Reason to See You Again and The Middlesteins
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Attunement
Is life hustling you out of tune? As the week roars by, we invite you to a slice of attunement penned lovingly by our authors, friends, and yours truly. Freshly delivered weekly with care. Intimacy guaranteed. Read selected letters below.
Practising Listening
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Our language grows, and with it, new connections to things and creatures around us.
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For years, pouring myself into this collection was an outlet to make peace with my past and also,...
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