Danica Novgorodoff—author of Slow Storm and Refresh, Refresh—brings her distinctive voice and gorgeous, moody watercolors to The Undertaking of Lily Chen, available now from First Second. Check out an excerpt below!
Deshi, a hapless young man living in northern China, is suddenly expelled from ordinary life when his brother dies in an accident. Holding Deshi responsible for his brother’s death, his parents send him on a mission to acquire a corpse bride to accompany his brother into the afterlife, in accordance with an ancient Chinese tradition that has many modern adherents.
Eligible dead girls are in short supply, however. When Deshi falls into company with a young—and single—woman named Lily, he sees a solution to his problems. The only hitch is that willful, tart-tongued Lily is still very much alive. As Deshi and Lily adventure through a breathtaking mountain landscape, meeting a host of eccentric characters and dangerous adversaries along the way, Deshi just can’t decide whether to kiss the girl or to kill her.