Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1348082 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 380 pages

Synopsis
Legal thriller, set in London and Malaysia, featuring a strong Chinese heroine. Set text for Singaporean and South East Asian Literature course at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

From the Author
Book reviewed by Tatler(UK) and Sun Magazine, Malaysia
Tatler(UK) - January 1999 issue, page 33: An accomplished first novel by Yang-May Ooi brings idealism and passion to bear in the heat of the Malaysian rainforest. By Jessica de Rothschild. Sun Magazine, Malaysia, Dec 29th 1998. Ooi Yang-May took a risk when she gave up a secure law career to become a full-time novelist. But it was a good decision, for her very first book is a brilliant read, reports Lynette Ng.

Customer Reviews

This is a really good read, you can't put it down.
At one level you may say the plot is all too far fetched, what with toppling towers in the jungle and even Jasmine herself being a somewhat unlikely person. But then all that is only the stage for what the story is really about which is how, through all the turbulent events and her relationships with Harry, Luke and her mother, Jasmine gradually finds what is right, true and real for her after her extraordinary upbringing which saw her suddenly catapulted from rural Malaysia to the fast lane of achievement in faraway London. I think it is this aspect which the author handles so skillfully - the conflicts and dilemmas going on inside Jasmine - such that the reader is willing her on and, on several occasions, being able to anticipate what Jasmine will do even before she herself has an inkling. It is a really engaging story. Needless to say, it's of interest to anyone who knows Malaysia, and some of the scenes such as Taiping are very evocative, but it should not just be a limited interest novel. Above all it's about people, the stage is set between England and Malaysia which makes it really interesting but I don't think the novel is intending to make any significant statement or judgement in a political sense about either England or Malaysia or in the sense of East versus West. I read this from cover to cover on a single plane journey and I look forward to the next one

A clever integration of East and West
Yang May Ooi has cleverly drawn a powerful image of the present-day Malaysia, its values, its family structure, its relations with the influential West.

The book movingly shows the internal conflict of a Malaysian who is striving to succeed in the heart of London, in a renown Law firm. She constantly struggles between her past and present, innocent love and obsession...

An immensely moving novel that softens as well as inspires the realistic soul.

Compelling and gripping: Malaysian English not represented
I bought the book because I grew up in Malaysia, and I was interested to see how Malaysia and Malaysians would be portrayed in a book published in the UK, and written by a Malaysian presumably wanting to communicate with an international audience. First of all, there is all the appropriate local flavour (Malaysian spinning tops, some interesting description of Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs, etc.). There was some attempt to represent Malaysian speech in English, although some of it came across as slightly improbable. Most important, Ooi has steered clear of an avant-garde treatment, and much of the book is very readable. In other words, it's a good yard, with a satisfying happy ending - perhaps a little too pat for some. Good suspense, that stops you from putting down the book halfway. I found occasionally a disturbing mixture in the language. Most of it is in standard British English and occasionally some Malaysian English is thrown in. But on occasions some Americanisms are thrown in - like referring to Freeways (= expressways, motorways) in Kuala Lumpur. Locals would never use 'freeways' - they're more likely to say 'highways'.