Historical fiction, without a doubt, has always been one of my favourite genres to read. Books set in South East Asian countries come a very, very close second. Combine the two and I won’t need anymore convincing to pick it up!
As a child, my mom would often tell me stories of life during the Japanese occupation that she heard from her mom. My mom was born after the Japanese left, so she had no first hand experience of her own. But from my grandma’s stories, we understood that times were tough. There was scarcity of food and life was hard. But that’s all the info I grew up knowing.
As someone who’s half Malay, this is a story I’ve been seeking all my life. It’s eye opening and heart breaking at the same time. The last 20 pages dragged on a bit for me but it was an amazing read nonetheless. Definitely pick this up if you don’t know much about the happenings in South East Asia during WW2 – a topic that needs to be discussed more.
My rating: 4⭐️