In 1927 Singapore, Gean Choo is out of choices. Burdened by her father's massive debts, she decides to work as an amah -- a housegirl -- for the wealthy Verity Edevane, an Englishwoman who has a rather dark reputation amongst the girls looking for work as maids. Gean Choo certainly doesn't expect to be taken in by the strange Mrs. Edevane, who consumes blood tofu and keeps odd nighttime hours. Against her better judgement, she becomes entangled with her often cruel mistress, all while questioning her feelings for Po Lam, the woman who dresses in suits and oversees all of Mrs. Edevane's business. Caught between two women who love her, Gean Choo has to decide the future she wants for herself -- and if she wants to escape the encroaching darkness or not.
I've been wanting to read this dark sapphic novel by Lianyu Tan for some while, but I was always too busy with other books to get my chance. Finally, I decided to make time and pick it up, and while it's not an unenjoyable experience, I'm afraid that it didn't quite match up with my expectations. If you're wanting to read this for yourself, I must tell you beforehand: please heed the warnings listed above. This book is dark, and I do mean dark -- the relationship between Gean Choo and Verity is extremely toxic, not just borderline inappropriate, but full-on abusive.
There's a dearth of sapphic novels that deal with darker subjects, and it seems that, as with all gay relationships in media, people are often afraid to address the complexities that are a dime a dozen in heterosexual ones. It's something that irks me, and I'm not going to lie: the idea of a sapphic book with cruel, evil characters who are unrepentant is about appealing as it gets to me. That being said, The Wicked and the Willing suffers from a lack of compelling characterization. It all felt a bit shallow, and because of this, it makes it hard to like the evil Mrs. Edevane against your better judgement. Instead, you simply sit there and wonder why it is that Gean Choo finds her so magnetic.
Po Lam, on the other hand, operates as an instantly likable heroic figure. In spite of the things she's being forced to do, and her complicity in the evils of this novel, she's relatable, sympathetic, and you will root for her immediately. There's a beautiful gentleness between her and Gean Choo, even when they're arguing. It's actually difficult for me to imagine readers disliking her or, perhaps to put it more succinctly, wishing that Gean Choo would chose Verity over her.
Gean Choo feels as if she's little more than a reader insert, a sort of leftover from those (rather dull) self-insert fanfictions. She has no real personality, and although there are many instances where you will pity her, that's about it. It's only at the very end that she grows a semblance of a backbone, and it was extremely satisfying, to say the very least. I also wasn't a fan of the multiple choice ending -- in my opinion, a total copout.
Most disappointing of all, the potential it has simply isn't fully realized. There's many interesting concepts here, but even in 400+ pages, it didn't make me care enough about Gean Choo or Verity. My problem here isn't to do with the subject matter (which many people will find bothersome, so keep that in mind), as I think if straight girls are allowed to rant and rave over Penelope Douglas, Tiffany Reisz and C.J. Roberts, then the wlw community should be allowed their Lianyu Tans', but I do have a problem with the character and world-building.
Overall, it's not something I would necessarily recommend, especially to a general audience. If you're curious, though, I'd say to give it a shot -- who knows, you might love it. For me, it just was not the dark romance I was looking for.
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