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Title details for The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan - Available

The Storm We Made

A Novel

by Vanessa Chan
Samantha Tan
Audiobook
8 of 10 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
8 of 10 copies available
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION 2024 FIRST NOVEL PRIZE

In this "espionage-laden family epic" (Vanity Fair), an ordinary housewife becomes an unlikely spy—and her dark secrets will test even the most unbreakable ties.
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara's family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.

Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.

A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fujiwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an "Asia for Asians." Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.

Told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made spans years of pain, triumph, and perseverance. "The tenderness in its details, the ordinary ways that these characters love and laugh in the face of the extraordinary...Chan shows us, with clarity and care, how the truest mirror comes from the intimacy of human connection" (The New York Times Book Review).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 2, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797166247
      • File size: 313286 KB
      • Duration: 10:52:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 2, 2023
      Chan debuts with a dynamic if overstuffed family saga involving a Malayan mother who becomes a spy for Japan in the lead-up to Japan’s WWII invasion of the territory. Cecily Alcantara’s life takes a new course in 1934, at a work party for her husband, Gordon, a middle manager for the colonial British administration. There, she meets the charming Shigeru Fujiwara, an agent for the Japanese Imperial Army who’s working covertly to overthrow the British. He lures Cecily with his talk of an Asia for Asians, and she begins handing over information stolen from Gordon’s desk. Her espionage activities continue for the next few years. Now, in 1945, Cecily looks back on the unexpected consequences of the Japanese invasion, such as political repression and rampant disappearances of teen boys. When her 15-year-old son Abel disappears, Cecily blames herself. Chan alternates Cecily’s story with chapters narrated by her children including Abel, who it turns out is being tortured in a labor camp. There’s also Jujube, who’s working in a teahouse patronized by rude soldiers, and eight-year-old Jasmin, who chafes at Cecily and Gordon’s insistence that she keep herself hidden in the basement so she won’t be caught and forced to become a “comfort girl.” Though the short chapters make for brisk pacing, the characters wind up feeling underdeveloped amid all the various plot threads. Still, Chan convincingly portrays a family caught in the horrors of war.

    • Good Reading Magazine
      Cecily is desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonised Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fujiwara allows her to believe she is doing something bigger than herself and helping to build an ‘Asia for Asians’. Cecily’s espionage helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later in Malaya, 1945, her family is in terrible danger: her 15-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is hidden in a basement to prevent her being stolen and put into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter, Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day. Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth. This is a gripping, devastating and extraordinary book. It is historical fiction at its best, told in subtle ways by the everyday people that suffer during war. Through multiple viewpoints it spans two time frames and reads like a beautiful cinematic film – very vivid but also wonderfully and tragically nuanced. It tackles the moral complexities of war through many angles and characters, urging the reader to not look away from this violent time in history. I really enjoyed The Storm We Made. this book. It is a difficult but worthwhile read. Cecily’s torment is brutal to read, as is the childlike views of the young Jasmin and Yuki. An impressive debut novel. Reviewed by Nicola Skinstad   ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vanessa Chan is the Malaysian author of The Storm We Made, a national bestseller, Good Morning America Book Club Pick and BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. Acquired by international publishers in a flurry of auctions, the novel, her first, will be published in more than twenty languages worldwide. Her other work has been published in Vogue, Esquire, and more. Vanessa grew up in Malaysia and is now based mostly in Brooklyn. Visit Vanessa Chan's website

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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