LoveReading Says
The story begins in 1945, in the context of the Japanese occupiers of Malaya having “killed more people in three years than the British colonisers had in fifty”, at a time “when teenage boys had begun to disappear”.
It’s also a time when all three of Cecily’s children face danger. While her eldest daughter works in a tea house visited by Japanese soldiers, her youngest, Jasmin, has had her hair chopped off and is confined to the basement to keep her safe from predatory men. Into this, her son Abel vanishes on his fifteenth birthday.
Through a second timeline that flips back to 1935, we discover secrets from Cecily’s past, to the time she worked as an informant. As the two narratives meet, tragedy compels Cecily to reconnect with faces from her past, and to confront actions she took some ten years ago.
Stark, lyrical and skilfully woven, The Storm We Made is illuminating on history, and acutely honest on the complex workings of the human heart.
Joanne Owen
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The Storm We Made Synopsis
Her decision changed history.
Now her family must survive it.
British Malaya, 1930s
Discontented housewife Cecily is seduced by Japanese general Fujiwara and the glorious future he is promising for 'independent' Malaya, free from British colonialism. As she becomes further embedded as his own personal spy, she unwittingly alters the fate of her country by welcoming in a punishing form of dictatorship under the Japanese in WWII.
Japanese-occupied Malaya, 1945
Cecily and her family are barely surviving. Her children, Jujube, Abel and Jasmin, are surrounded by threat, and look to their mother to keep them safe. But she can't tell them about the part she played in the war - and she doesn't know how to protect them.
Can Cecily face up to her past to save her children? Or is it already too late... ?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781399712576 |
| Publication date: |
4th January 2024 |
| Author: |
Vanessa Chan |
| Publisher: |
Hodder & Stoughton |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
352 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Family Drama
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Vanessa Chan Press Reviews
Brave and immensely moving, The Storm We Made is one of the most powerful and confident debuts I've ever read. A storytelling star is born -- Tracy Chevalier
In Vanessa Chan's spellbinding debut, one woman's desire to change her destiny shapes the future of a colonized nation. Combining cinematic grandeur with nuanced storytelling, The Storm We Made offers the hidden history that only fiction can reveal: the everyday yearnings of people surviving a brutal occupation, children trying to make sense of the unspeakable, and the search for love. I'll never forget this book. -- Jessamine Chan
Exceptionally brave, heart-breaking, beautiful, and moving. Destined to be a classic. The Storm We Made is a celebration of stories that have been silenced or erased. Vanessa Chan writes with admirable power, confidence and grace. By confronting the horror of colonisation and wars, this book opens the pathway to peace and healing. A significant contribution to world's literature -- Nguyen Phan Que Mai
With assured prose, impeccable story-telling, and vibrant characters, The Storm We Made heralds an exceptional, exciting new voice. Vanessa Chan's textured, visceral writing brings 1930s-40s Malaya to life during the British and Japanese occupations, as the waves of small actions ripple out with unexpected and often tragic consequences. Bravo to this immense talent! -- Melissa Fu
A striking, moving exploration of good and evil and the devastating repercussions one's actions can have, it is a novel that will stay with you -- Cecile Pin
The Storm We Made is an excellent examination of the way individuals get caught in the violence of history . . . a frank book that revels in moral complexity. Lovers of Eileen Chang will especially appreciate Vanessa Chan. -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan
Devastatingly beautiful and extraordinary . . . Vanessa shines an evocative light on this piece of history. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a very long time -- Jessica George
A phenomenon unto itself. This is no mere debut, but rather the summoning of a story buried so deeply in a nation that it could only surface with a talent great enough to do it justice. -- Mira Jacob
Like the most dazzling historical fiction, The Storm We Made etches intimate details on an epic canvas. Vanessa Chan's characters face agonizing choices under the darkness of colonization and war, and yet she imbues them with an indelible spirit of resistance that never lets you forget the light. A fearless, gripping, morally complex story by a writer to watch. -- Dawnie Walton
There are so many rich layers to this book-my breath caught at the beauty of the words and the kaleidoscope of images they painted. Vanessa Chan has written a masterpiece, and The Storm We Made has not only changed my perspective on war and humanity; it has also transformed my sense of what truly great novels can do. -- QIAN JULIE WANG, author of New York Times bestseller, Beautiful Country
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