For her debut novel, DELAYED RAYS OF A STAR, Amanda Lee Koe drew her inspiration from an archival photograph of three groundbreaking women from the early 20th century (Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong and Leni Riefenstahl). Now, in SISTER SNAKE, Koe finds inspiration deep in history and legend, as well as in the present day.

The book opens in Hangzhou in the year 815. In a scene inspired by the classic Chinese "Legend of the White Snake," two snakes --- one white, one green --- find the secret to transforming themselves into humans. Readers learn that it takes many hundreds of years for the transformation to be complete, but they soon encounter the two snakes/women in present-day New York City and Singapore.

"Koe's novel is a true original, a powerful and relevant story about sisterhood, resilience and survival that will keep readers intrigued throughout."

Emerald is living in New York, supporting herself by dating "sugar daddies" for money (and sometimes partaking of their qi, the life force that ensures her immortality). Su is living a life of restrained luxury in Singapore, where she is married to a wealthy and respectable (but kind of boring) bureaucrat. When Su needs to ingest qi, she sensibly has her staff procure a goat rather than risk harming a human, but the result is the same. She actually pays for cosmetic procedures that give her the appearance of aging, even though her beauty remains naturally unchanged.

The two women, who are not related by blood but treat one another as sisters, have grown estranged in recent years, particularly after Emerald asks Su for money one too many times. But when Su gets a news alert about a green snake biting a wealthy man in Central Park --- and Emerald doesn't answer her inquiring phone calls --- she has no choice but to hop on a plane (first class, of course) and embark on a mission to bring Emerald home with her. Su's uncharacteristically impulsive behavior is prompted in part by a positive pregnancy test, which she once thought was impossible. But is she carrying a snake? Or a human baby?

SISTER SNAKE glides seamlessly through history, from the realm of myth to the present day, where Emerald and her friends speak in contemporary slang and Su frequents the most exclusive luxury boutiques. Su's lifestyle, along with the evocative Singaporean setting, might appeal to readers of the Crazy Rich Asians series. But this book has a more fluid, nonlinear structure, and its historical range gives the sisters' story depth and color. Readers learn, for example, the traumatic reason that Su once longed to become human. The centuries of self-cultivation required to complete the process offers a strong hint about the determination and steel of these two formidable women.

Koe's novel is a true original, a powerful and relevant story about sisterhood, resilience and survival that will keep readers intrigued throughout.