Let’s first talk about the setting of Penang, an island city in Malaysia. What are some elements that stood out to you?

The main character, Jess, was born in Malaysia but grew up in America. Some aspects of her life and experiences may be more familiar to you, others may feel quite foreign. What aspects of Jess’s life and experiences struck you as universal or relatable? What did you find novel or different?

Jess encounters various gods and spirits in her adventures. The people around her, such as her mother and her Christian aunt Kor Kor, have different perspectives and ways of dealing with these beings. Discuss the role of religion in the novel.

Jess is queer but isn’t out to her family, which becomes a bone of contention with her girlfriend. What did you think of how the novel handled queerness?

The characters in Black Water Sister shift between the roles of hero and villain, antagonist and ally – like Jess’s grandmother Ah Ma, her uncle Ah Ku and Sherng. How did your perspective of these characters develop in the course of the book?

Non-English terms are used throughout the novel, often without explicit definition or gloss. How did this affect your reading experience? Why do you think the author adopted this approach?

The conflict between the supernatural and mundane realms in the novel is rooted in a real-world conflict about space – the threatened destruction of a temple by development. What do you think the novel is trying to say about gentrification and the tensions between history and modernity?

Three characters lie at the heart of the book: Jess, Ah Ma and the goddess the Black Water Sister. How do these three women echo each other? How do they differ?