It is in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, in the 1950s, when Ah Lam is married off to Cheng Lei, the son of a wealthy merchant, to help improve her family’s situation as she is of age. Once settled in Surabaya, Ah Lam soon finds herself dealing with an abusive husband while raising her young children and running her own small restaurant to make ends meet during the extreme political and economic hardship of the 1965-66.
Meanwhile, Ming Zhu, Ah Lam’s daughter, befriends a wealthy Muslim Javanese entrepreneur family and falls for Arya, an aspiring scholar, whom she later marries despite her parents’ disagreement for their different cultural and religious backgrounds under the authoritarian New Order regime in the 1970s. Ming Zhu and Arya have fraternal twins, Fajar and Dido, and get divorced as the conservative Islamic culture grows.
Dido, as the female twin and a Peranakan woman, faces gender and cultural challenges as she is torn between her hybrid ethnicity and cultural roots while growing up in the disorienting Reformasi era and the May 1998 riots. She becomes a documentary filmmaker as her way to make sense of the current political upheaval and her own conflicted identity.
As the country is unravelling even further, how will these three generations of women find what they need when intergenerational trauma and family memories haunt their lives and ties to others?
Catagory: Fiction
Penguin Select Classics: The Importance of Being Earnest
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
We all play certain roles in life, at work or with family, which require us to suppress how we truly feel to perform our duties.
Set in London, the play revolves around the lives of two such young bachelors, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who decide to lead double lives to cope with the weights of their social obligations.
Jack becomes ‘Earnest’ to escape his country estate and win the heart of Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon pretends to have a fictional invalid friend named ‘Bunbury’ to avoid family gatherings and responsibilities. Life takes a turn when their alternate identities collide, leading to humorous misunderstandings.
Through this entertaining satire, the story compels us to wonder how society rewards appearance and superficial acts over authentic living and seeking true happiness; making us question are we truly who we allow the world to see?
Penguin Select Classics: The Canterville Ghost
“He made me see what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both.”
At times, the scary exterior is just a cry for lots of love and understanding; and the Canterville Ghost is no different.
The Otis family purchased The Canterville Chase, a haunted castle in England. The castle is home to the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville, who has been haunting the castle for over three hundred years. To the Ghost’s horror, the new family was just not afraid of him; instead, they set about trying to get rid of him. What ensues is a hilarious cycle of practical jokes and pranks.
Until one day, sweet and sensitive Virginia Otis, the youngest daughter of the family, discovers the ghost’s hiding place. The ghost tells her his story and asks her for help. The key to the Ghost’s peaceful departure to afterlife, is in her innocent, childlike powers.
What does the Ghost ask? Will Virginia be able to do what he needs? Find out in the most endearing tale of kindness, friendship and forgiveness.
Penguin Select Classics: The Bell Jar
“The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence.”
Esther Greenwood is a beautiful and immensely talented young lady who dreamt of being a great writer. As a college student she travelled from Massachusetts to New York to work on a magazine for a month as a guest editor. While there, she is showered with fancy dinners, and elite networking. Esther knew she should be having the time of her life, but something was wrong, and she felt deadened.
Little she knew that this was the beginning of a clinical depression which would take all sense of life out of her. After a visit from a beloved professor, she starts to believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Months of treatment later, Esther leaves the mental hospital in time to start college. She now knew that life would be a seesaw of good and bad days, and the bell jar could ring either with sadness or elation, she just needed to hear it jingle and practice what she learnt.
The Bell Jar is an intimate, and uplifting narrative written with the expert stroke of the finest writers of the century; meant to make the reader feel supported and hopeful in their journey.
Clichés & Curses
Clara Healy is convinced her family is cursed.
After witnessing the relationships from the two closest people in her life fall apart, Clara was determined not to be the curse’s next victim by avoiding the root cause: falling in love with cliché love interests.
Leading up to college, Clara has managed to avoid getting stuck in situations that will cause her to spend more time than necessary with a cliché love interest. Whether it be the bad boy, an academic rival, or her all-time kryptonite, the star athlete.
But when she accidentally arrived late to the first day of ASL class, her streak came to an end when Colton Reed, the college star baseball player ended up sitting next to her. The situation only got worse when the class was asked to find a partner, leaving Clara no choice but to pair up with Colton.
Even though the circumstances were less than ideal, she wasn’t going to let the curse get to her. Seeing Colton Reed on a weekly basis? She could handle that. Right?
From practicing ASL with bubble tea every Wednesday, car rides home and an unexpected night out together, Clara slowly starts to realize that some things were easier said than done.
And escaping the curse was going to be a lot more difficult than she thought it would be.
Penguin Select Classics: Animal Farm
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
In the satirical and politically rife land of the Manor Farm, all kinds of animals lived together and ran their civilization led by the visionary Old Major. Under Old Major the animals lead a revolt against their oppressive human owner Mr. Jones. Their dream is to establish a perfect society, which would be free from tyranny, where all animals (beings) will be equal.
The highly engaging, witty and endearing story aims to highlight the dangers of authoritarianism, and governments which pit citizens against each other. Through the compelling conversations between the animal residents of Manor Farm, the story highlights how language is used to manipulate and run propaganda to control the masses and rewrite history.
Animal Farm is a timeless and thought-provoking work, reminding readers the importance of thinking independently in order to safeguard democracy and individual liberties.
Select Classics: Animal Farm
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
In the satirical and politically rife land of the Manor Farm, all kinds of animals lived together and ran their civilization led by the visionary Old Major. Under Old Major the animals lead a revolt against their oppressive human owner Mr. Jones. Their dream is to establish a perfect society, which would be free from tyranny, where all animals (beings) will be equal.
The highly engaging, witty and endearing story aims to highlight the dangers of authoritarianism, and governments which pit citizens against each other. Through the compelling conversations between the animal residents of Manor Farm, the story highlights how language is used to manipulate and run propaganda to control the masses and rewrite history.
Animal Farm is a timeless and thought-provoking work, reminding readers the importance of thinking independently in order to safeguard democracy and individual liberties.
Penguin Select Classics: Siddhartha
“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.”
Set in ancient India, a young and curious Siddhartha moves to the wilderness on a quest to understand the meaning and purpose of our existence in this world.
Siddhartha, as a young Brahmin had become discontented with the superficiality of life, where the chase was for more personal gain and wealth, never for a lasting impact of one’s actions.
As a wandering ascetic, Siddhartha’s search for fulfilment leads to the realization that enlightenment is a deeply personal journey, and that traditional teachings and societal norms may not necessarily lead to true wisdom and contentment.
Siddhartha is a timeless and meditative narrative that urges one to take a journey of self-realization, to find their individualistic path to inner happiness.
- A profound journey of self-discovery and enlightenment.
- Explores the search for meaning beyond material pursuits.
- Challenges traditional teachings in the quest for wisdom.
- A timeless meditation on personal fulfillment and contentment.
- Inspires readers to forge their own path to inner peace.
Penguin Select Classics: A Portrait of The Artist As A Young Man
“I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it calls itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can.”
In the 19th century, Stephen Dedalus, a young boy growing up in Dublin, Ireland, shows the grit, self-reflection and courage it takes to absorb life and turn it into art.
Stephen is a sensitive and intelligent boy, yet rebellious and independent. He struggles to break free from the constraints of his family expectations, the dominance of his religious teachings and the politics of his country. In his quest to seek reason behind his actions, he learns to break away from the norm and express his own unique perspective of the world.
Writing poetry and prose become his means of expression, as he highlights the tensions between individuality and conformity.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a timeless and introspective work inviting readers to experience catharsis and self-realization through beautiful poems, prose and motivating conversations.
Penguin Select Classics: To The Lighthouse
“Beauty was not everything. Beauty had this penalty — it came too readily, came too completely. It stilled life — froze it.”
It’s the story of a family, like every family, and the many dents and complex love that make up relationships. Follow the Ramsay family over a period of three decades, in three parts ‘The Window,’ ‘Time Passes,’ and ‘The Lighthouse.’
The first part of the novel, ‘The Window,’ introduces the middle-class Ramsay family with eight children. The second, ‘Time Passes,’ takes place ten years later. The Ramsay’s have moved away from the house on the Isle of Skye, and Mrs. Ramsay has died. The house is now empty and neglected. The third part, ‘The Lighthouse,’ takes place ten years later, as the family finally return to the lighthouse, which has been a symbol of desire and longing for many years.
Woolf ’s thoughtful, reflective and sensitive writing allows the readers to delve deep into the inner thoughts and emotions of the characters.
Like a conversation the reader is having in solitude with themselves, every emotion feels lived and relatable, highlighting the enduring power of memory to capture the essence of our lives.