Daughter of the Moon Goddess author Sue Lynn Tan on her reimagining of a Chinese myth and reaching for a dream
- In coming-of-age novel Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Hong Kong-based Malaysian author Sue Lynn Tan imagines the goddess Chang’e has a daughter, Silver Star
- She draws connections between her own adolescence and Silver Star’s and says: ‘You put a piece of yourself in a novel. To have it rejected is terrifying’
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, pub. Harper Voyager
“When you have a dream that you want very much, sometimes you feel scared to reach for it. Because if it doesn’t happen, it is very crushing. There is a special type of pain involved with that.”
Sue Lynn Tan is describing the long, bumpy road that culminated in the publication of her excellent first novel, Daughter of the Moon Goddess. Like all aspiring writers, Tan was plagued by insecurity and discouraged by rejection. But if anything characterises her conversation today, it is that most invaluable ability to keep going even through the toughest and saddest of times.
“You never know how life is going to turn out,” Tan tells me towards the end of our chat. It is a motto that can be applied equally to her literary career and her life in Hong Kong. “I never thought I would end up living here,” she explains.
Tan had been working in Singapore when her boyfriend landed a job in Hong Kong. Even when she relocated, she didn’t believe they would stay longer than a couple of years. “We still have all our things in storage in Singapore,” she says with a laugh.
