Published: 06/02/2020
A visceral meditation on trauma, memory and forgiveness, How We Disappeared moves between contemporary Singapore and the 1942 Japanese invasion, weaving together two timelines, two life-altering secrets and two people who come together in their search for reconciliation with the past.
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020
Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked. Only three survivors remain, one of them a tiny child.
In a neighbouring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is bundled into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel. In the year 2000, her mind is still haunted by her experiences there, but she has long been silent about her memories of that time. It takes twelve-year-old Kevin, and the mumbled confession he overhears from his ailing grandmother, to set in motion a journey into the unknown to discover the truth.
Weaving together two timelines and two life-changing secrets, How We Disappeared is an evocative, profoundly moving and utterly dazzling novel heralding the arrival of a new literary star.
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
ISBN: 9781786075956
Number of pages: 352
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 26 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Deeply affecting.' - The Financial Times
'A heartbreaking but hopeful story about memory, trauma and ultimately love.' - The New York Times
'This heartbreaking story explores shame and secrecy through two timelines, woven together in this deeply moving novel. A quite extraordinary book.' - Kirsty Wark, BBC Talking Books
'Culturally authentic...the writing has grace.' - The Sunday Times
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This beautifully written, tender and heart shattering story has two narratives.
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