Beautifully written, hear breaking, the real sense of period.
I love stories from the early 19th century till the period after WWII. This one has additional feature: location in Malaya and Singapore covering 1950s. From the beginning we know that something terrible had happened, it’s hard to understand how can someone deliberately separate mother and her children. It is not a romance or love story. It is about mother’s love and endless ability to fight against all odds. It is also about children perseverance to fight unfair life despite that they don’t understand adults and just follow their own understanding of everyday events. So much loss and pain. So many secrets to discover.
I don’t know much about this historical period in Malaya and Singapore but it seems the author made really good research (or know a lot from her own experience). While reading we have this special feeling of being there. Which makes the whole story more compelling.
It’s my first book of this author. Loved it from the first to the last page. And I will certainly be looking to read another one.