THE STORM WE MADE
by Vanessa Chan (Hodder & Stoughton, $37.99)
Malaysian author Vanessa Chan draws on her family history for this gripping story about a family in Kuala Lumpur over two time periods in 1935 in the run-up to World War II and in the final throes of it in 1945.
Cecily Alcantara, a clever young Eurasian, is a bored housewife and mother in Malaya who has always felt looked down upon by the British, who are occupying the country. She finds herself falling for the charms of Bingley Chan, who says he is a Hong Kong merchant but is really General Fujiwara of the Japanese Imperial Army, preparing the ground for an invasion of her country. Eating up Fujiwara's "Asia for Asians" vision, Cecily begins feeding him information she picks up from her mid-level civil servant husband, Gordon, and finds she has a knack for it.
Cecily experiences life in its extremes. In the mid-1930s period, she a woman in love and feeling superior for the first time in her life. Then she's living in fear in 1945, when the Japanese, like the Nazis, have started to see the writing on the wall they have lost the war.
As Chan puts it, the Malayans were being brutalised by people who look like them this time. In 1945, each of Cecily's by then three children is in grave danger. Her son, Abel, is snatched by the Japanese to work in a labour camp; her youngest daughter, 7-year-old Jasmin, is hidden for fear of being recruited as a "comfort woman" for the Japanese; and Cecily's smart older daughter, Jujube, is desperately trying to keep her family safe. Each character is finely drawn. The author is extraordinarily good at evoking the scenes and smells of the time, even people's sour sweat and breath.
Esta historia es de la edición January 27 - February 02, 2024 de New Zealand Listener.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición January 27 - February 02, 2024 de New Zealand Listener.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Roman scandals
Sarah Watt reviews two major titles at this year's Italian Film Festival.
Rising tide
Twenty years on from the foreshore and seabed hikoi, the issues behind it have not subsided.
The balance of Powers
The Naked and Famous star is unashamedly indulgent in his new solo album.
Love, love me Who
New Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa and producer Russell T Davies talk about getting by with a little help from their friends.
Raising the barre
Why acclaimed Kiwi director James Napier Robertson-took on the bruising true story of an American ballerina in Russia.
A dickens of a novel
Historical novel is rich in women characters from all levels of Victorian society - including some from real life.
Parental advisory
A vibrant collection of essays sets out to answer one less-than-simple question: what makes a mother?
Unhappy endings
Leslie Jamison anatomises her broken marriage in a candid new memoir - but who or what was really to blame?
'I am still quite overwhelmed'
Ginette McDonald is good with voices. Now, a new anthology celebrates the long and varied career of the actor who brought us Lynn of Tawa. Just don't call it a valedictory.
A long Trekka north
Almost forgotten in this country, NZ's only homedesigned, mass-produced motor vehicle has a new following in Europe.