I can’t remember where I heard about this book but I’m always up for some fun Singlit so I actually made a trip to the library (instead of looking on Libby) to borrow this!

The Formidable Miss Cassidy is a historical fantasy novel set in end-19th Century Singapore. Leda Cassidy has arrived in Singapore to be a companion to Sarah Jane Bendemeer, who lives in a haunted house. This being Singapore, the ghosts are local but that isn’t a problem to Miss Cassidy, who proves to be not-quite human herself.

The book actually is split into two parts with two distinct stories and I found both halves of the stories to be fun. The first half, with Sarah Jane, is a more typically colonial household and the second half features a wealthy Chinese merchant household, which provides a bit more exposure to Singaporean Chinese culture. Throughout the book, Boey has managed to bring in Singapore’s multi-religious and multi-racial background, which makes this book stand out from other books in the genre — the closest book that came to mind is Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, which also features a lot of otherworldly creatures and is also a light read. That said, the romance is here very low-key, unlike Emily Wilde, and I really appreciated it for what it was.

I really enjoyed Miss Cassidy as a character and all the allusions to who she and her sister are. She is one of those no-nonsense people who gets things done and I really enjoyed that about her.

Honestly, there’s not much else for me to say about this book except that I think you should read it. If you’re looking for a light-hearted adventure through colonial Singapore with loads of our local folklore woven inside, this is definitely the book for you.