In the tradition of Rushdie or Ondaatje, this is one of the most accomplished first novels I've ever seen." - Andrea Barrett

"Vyvyane Loh's richly ambitious narrative weaves the personal and the political into an unforgettable novel." - Claire Messud

"Vyvyane Loh's exhilarating first novel is a searing, vivid historical work of tremendous originality...a breathtaking new voice of great power." - Lan Samantha Chang

This brilliant novel chronicles the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in World War II. Central to the story is one Chinese family: Claude, raised to be more British than the British and ashamed of his own heritage; his father, Humphrey, whose Anglophilia blinds him to possible defeat and his wife's dalliances; and the redoubtable Grandma Siok, whose sage advice falls on deaf ears. Expatriates, spies, fifth columnists, and nationalists - including the elusive young woman Ling-Li - mingle in this exotic culture as the Japanese threat looms. Beset by the horror of war and betrayal and, finally, torture, Claude must embrace his true heritage. In the extraordinary final paragraphs of the novel, the language itself breaks into Chinese. With penetrating observation, Vyvyane Loh unfolds the coming-of-age story of a young man and a nation, a story that deals with myth, race, and class, with the ways language shapes perceptions, and with the intrigue and suffering of war.

"Loh tells an incredibly powerful story of national upheaval, imperial decline, and a young man's coming-of-age from the perspectives of several finely drawn characters." - Booklist

"...a solid and moving accomplishment." -Publisher's Weekly