It is 1949, and young Etienne Legast is in trouble. Estranged from his pious Catholic family, having fled a messy love affair with an older man at the end of the war, he returns home to Paris for a funeral, only to find himself quick drawn into a deadly debt to a neighborhood gangster and an unexpected romance with Samphan, an orphaned Cambodian student radical. Though the two young men come from different worlds, they soon develop a bond that helps them transcend their respective tragedies – until revolutionary political intrigues and the Parisian underworld threaten to pull them under once more.
Catagory: Fiction
The Unvisible
Alex, a struggling journalism student, begins a school project about children’s stories of invisible friends.
Because of her project, Alex gets invited to a secret society-Carte Blanche-that studies the existence of an invisible human race.
The more she learns, the more she starts to be intrigued by the possibility of these stories actually being real.
Alex learns that anyone who reveals the existence of The Unvisible will be killed, because The Unvisible know that humans will kill them if they found out about The Unvisible. Humans kill everything that we perceive to be a threat to our existence.
As Alex gets drawn into the alluring world of The Unvisible, she also needs to fight with the trauma of having her world view turned upside down, and the profound loneliness that comes from not being allowed to share humanity’s biggest secret. With feelings of inferiority and doubt she struggles to take the lead to save herself, her family-and humanity.
Life is Beautiful. Death is Imminent.
The Raffles Affair
Fresh from a gruelling three-month assignment in East Africa, beautiful former MI6 agent Victoria West arrives at Raffles Hotel in Singapore to attend her friend’s wedding. But Victoria’s plans for a relaxing break end abruptly with news that the groom has been kidnapped. Warned not to contact the police, Victoria sets out to find him. But in this glamorous setting, nothing is quite what it seems. As the deadline to pay the ransom draws near, events take a deadly turn. Victoria suspects murder. But which of the wedding guests did it? They all have a motive… and a talent for lying. With time fast running out, Victoria must untangle the web of domestic squabbles, red herrings and false alibis before it is too late.
Nusantara – A Sea of Tales
Nusantara – A Sea of Tales is the most comprehensive collection of folk tales, fairy tales, myths and legends from the Nusantara and Southeast Asian region, and was written to sit alongside the great anthologies of folklore from other parts of the world.
Although it is impossible to trace the origins of most of these traditional tales, we do know that these stories were used as a means to discover ourselves and the world around us. Like a living creature, these tales came into existence at some point, and have since evolved and adapted to suit the needs of the community that it finds itself in. The seafaring nature of the people in this region has no doubt contributed to the spread of these tales and explains the fascinating variations across Southeast Asia.
These rich and layered tales contain all manner of wonder, marvels and strange curiosities, and have been written to enthral a new audience. The author has delved into the history and the meaning behind these tales but like all good fairy tales and folk tales, each reader will extract their own meaning from these stories. The symbols in these stories engage our imagination and challenges us to question, discuss and unravel life’s conflicts and mysteries. Herein lies the true power of these stories and the reason why these tales must be preserved and allowed to live and breathe once more.
She Never Looks Quite Back
The life of a woman, no matter who she is or where she might be, typically encompasses loss and longing, despair and courage, regret and love. She Never Looks Quite Back murmurs of such experiences and more. The stories depict themes of growing up, social unrest, nature, war, migration, reconciliation, sensuality, infidelity and the pandemic. The narratives allow glimpses into lives conflicted by chance and choice… women who find themselves in the most extraordinary circumstances, yet never giving up, not without a fight.
Be transported from Singapore’s swanky skyscrapers to wild Malaysian forests to rough African seas through waves of penultimate moments. Ode to Joy plays a forgotten tune while reliving the scars of surviving the Japanese Occupation in Singapore. Bird Watching captures a woman’s panic and escape, eventually plunging into the depths of her existential being. The Liquid Goalie -a fictionalised true story-charts a young Gambian woman on a perilous journey to Europe. A Polish in Katarzyna’s Secret is bent on staying alive, despite violation to her body, to reunite with her children someday.
Mallika Naguran’s debut collection of short stories reveals women’s unquenchable thirst for life without being unfazed by cruel turn of events. Her lyrical style of writing amplifies the fragility of humans while bringing into play metaphorical connection and intervention. The tales are timeless yet prick at many of today’s issues.
The Golden Realm
Pula has now metamorphosed into a formidable fighter.
He is just like his father, Sikat, the aging Datuk who holds a massive realm on the northernmost tip of Borneo. It is during a time when the early datuks rule the Southeast Asian region, sometime in 400 AD.
But an incident erupts-the neighbours, D’yak people who have gory practices of headhunting, try to stir trouble in the realm. In response, Datuk Sikat sends his highest officer to infiltrate the den of Jooba and obliterate their kind, a savage and vicious threat.
And as the kadatuan reels on a major war with the headhunters, Tali his eldest, has a sinister plan. He longs for the throne of his father, but his half-brother, Pula, stands in his way. Who will succeed to be the next datuk of the realm?
Th e story continues with the amazing encounters of Pula of the diverse tribes of Borneo and the Philippines, leading to his discovery of the Golden Realm.
Banaag at Sikat (Radiance and Sunrise)
Lope K Santos’ novel, Banaag at Sikat, is a love story framed in the context of a political tale. Published in 1906, it became the fountain head of social realism in the Tagalog novel and hailed as Asia’s first proletariat novel. It revolves around Delfin, a poor man in love with Meni, a capitalist’s daughter. Delfin is a socialist while Felipe, his friend, is an anarchist. Delfin wants the citizens to have more rights in business and property relations. He believes that society could be changed through education. On the other hand, Felipe believes in tearing down society’s walls. Factories should be owned by those who work there and land owned by those who till it. Although he is a landlord’s son, Felipe hates his father’s ways. He wants to see a society with equal status for all, where the horizon of hope is limitless. Banaag at Sikat mirrors the clash of forces during the early days of the American empire. Its burning passages on race, class, and colonialism still resonate today. Translated by ‘one of Asia’s best writers’, may this modern rendering inspire new readers to shape their lives so they ‘can help change the world’.
The House on Calle Sombra – A parable
The House on Calle Sombra follows the fates and fortunes of the esteemed Castillo de Montijo family over three generations. Set in the Philippines – a tropical island nation where truth blends with fiction – none of the Castillos is quite as perceived. Successful patriarch Don Federico arrived from Spain a penniless orphan. Formidable matriarch Doña Fatimah is a native Muslim fugitive. And their brood of privileged descendants is struggling to live up to their famed and crested motto: FAMILY FIRST.
Mirroring events in the country’s turbulent history, the Castillos’ perfect façade begins to fracture as shadows from their past return to claim their due.
Sardonic, witty, and brutally frank, The House on Calle Sombra is an ode to family, and a compelling exploration of how greed, love, and trauma are passed down through generations.
The Macanese Pro-Wrestler’s Cookbook
Macau, that redolent, overcrowded hive of faded Portuguese culture, glossy American casinos, and overarching Mainland governance is what hapless, lovelorn Zeke Oliveira calls home. An eccentric himself, for the most part he’s at ease with the city’s eccentricities, but when his best friend is murdered Zeke goes on a search for those responsible, a search that takes him into an undercurrent of crime beneath the city that he never knew existed. An adventure, a social commentary and an unconventional cookbook, The Macanese Pro-Wrestler’s Cookbook is ultimately the portrait of a man struggling to find a balance between the cultural identity he has inherited and his own individual destiny.
Silence in the Land of Gold
Molly Durberville and George Wilford, foreign lawyers working in the country, are assigned to untangle the legal issues surrounding a plane crash. They are led to a struggle between the Burmese military and the Kachin Independence Army. Ultimately, they realize that the origin of the crash has been from within their law firm. Though Molly has been assigned to spy on George, through their adventures they become lovers. George is torn by his realization, however, that Molly is attracted to Zaw Dan, a general in the Kachin army. One facet of the novel examines the legal profession from the perspectives of two women lawyers-Molly and Khine San Myo, who is housebound because of her history and that of the country.