The Storm We Made: A Good Morning America Book Club Pick
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).
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Community Reviews
Having only glanced at the summary before reading this, I thought it would have more spy stuff in a fun way, but this novel is about war and the ways people cope with war. Itâs a WWII novel but set in British Malaya which Chan points out is often completely overlooked despite the devastating effects of the war there.
Itâs a novel about how one family experiences WWII, each character having their own storyline, though of course theyâre all related. I found all the storylines pretty compelling. Obviously itâs sad, but itâs much more multi-dimensional than that. Chan says the stories are based on stories her grandmother told her which is just so :( but Iâm glad sheâs honoring her.
Overall the book is good but not like amazing. I feel bad rating it at all because of the subject matter but if Iâm judging it purely as a bookâ¦
rating: 3.5 stars but very impressed this is a debut
p.s. mostly just read this so i could vote against great divide in the goodreads awards
Itâs a novel about how one family experiences WWII, each character having their own storyline, though of course theyâre all related. I found all the storylines pretty compelling. Obviously itâs sad, but itâs much more multi-dimensional than that. Chan says the stories are based on stories her grandmother told her which is just so :( but Iâm glad sheâs honoring her.
Overall the book is good but not like amazing. I feel bad rating it at all because of the subject matter but if Iâm judging it purely as a bookâ¦
rating: 3.5 stars but very impressed this is a debut
p.s. mostly just read this so i could vote against great divide in the goodreads awards
This is a fascinating book that touches on a piece of history that I may not have previously gravitated toward. The southeast Asian involvement in WW II and Japanese atrocities are not necessarily covered in typical American history classes. War comes to Malaya, tearing apart an already precarious family whose choices and forced involvements reverberate through the years.
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