Helpful Score: 5
This is a beautifully written novel that draws the reader into a strange and exotic world so very different from our own. The characters lead a sad life by our standards, yet lives that are filled with triumphs over seemingly insurmountable events. A good read.
Helpful Score: 4
Poignant, touching story of how we become who we are. I read it in a day.
Helpful Score: 3
WOW, what a story! Poignantly written and the characters literally come to life. Warning, not for the faint hearted, war is cruel and it is bitterly portrayed throughout this story.
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of those novels that defines convention and traditional reading - this is a first novel of Eastern exoticism, myth and magic, and unforgettable characters, living and dead. It has a genuine intimacy and passionate involvement.
The story is about a 14 year-old girl from Ceylon who is traded off in marriage to a stranger across the ocean in the land of Malaysia. Duped into thinking her new husband is wealthy, she instead finds herself struggling to raise a family with a man too impractical to face reality and a world that is, by turns, unyielding and amazing, brutal and beautiful. Giving birth to a child every year until she is nineteen, she becomes a formidable matriarch, determine to grab from the world a better life for her daughters and sons and to face every new challenge with almost mythic strength. She survives by sheer willpower World War II and the Japanese occupation - but not unscathed. Dreamy and lyrical, told in alternating voices of the men and women of this amazing family this book brings a story of a world where small pleasures offset unimaginable horrors and where ghosts and gods walk hand in hand...
The story is about a 14 year-old girl from Ceylon who is traded off in marriage to a stranger across the ocean in the land of Malaysia. Duped into thinking her new husband is wealthy, she instead finds herself struggling to raise a family with a man too impractical to face reality and a world that is, by turns, unyielding and amazing, brutal and beautiful. Giving birth to a child every year until she is nineteen, she becomes a formidable matriarch, determine to grab from the world a better life for her daughters and sons and to face every new challenge with almost mythic strength. She survives by sheer willpower World War II and the Japanese occupation - but not unscathed. Dreamy and lyrical, told in alternating voices of the men and women of this amazing family this book brings a story of a world where small pleasures offset unimaginable horrors and where ghosts and gods walk hand in hand...
Helpful Score: 1
This book captured my attention from the beginning, although I did not fully appreciate its artistry until later on. The story line is very much steeped in the beliefs and superstitions of Malasia and Ceylon, but somehow they seem true within it. One of the many good things this book has to offer is the knowlege of a number of Eastern superstitions and customs, and an inside look into the workings of some families and arranged or semi-arranged marriages.
Perhaps due to the constant shifting from narrator to narrator, I found the characters, who do grow and change and are well-described, a little flat. Things seemed to be missing, and several times I found myself asking, "So what did happen?" or "So why did he/she act that way?" Nevertheless, as you read on, most of your questions are answered.
This book could be considered a tragic story; few of the people in it attain any true happiness. However, some of them are allowed their small triumphs and comforts and things are wrapped up in a satisfying way at the end.
Although I wish some gruesome parts had been less graphic and that there were fewer of them, it is, all in all, a beautifully written book with a number of messages. I am glad it came my way, but I would not want to read it again.
Perhaps due to the constant shifting from narrator to narrator, I found the characters, who do grow and change and are well-described, a little flat. Things seemed to be missing, and several times I found myself asking, "So what did happen?" or "So why did he/she act that way?" Nevertheless, as you read on, most of your questions are answered.
This book could be considered a tragic story; few of the people in it attain any true happiness. However, some of them are allowed their small triumphs and comforts and things are wrapped up in a satisfying way at the end.
Although I wish some gruesome parts had been less graphic and that there were fewer of them, it is, all in all, a beautifully written book with a number of messages. I am glad it came my way, but I would not want to read it again.
