‘A gripping, exquisitely plotted novel. I could not put it down!‘ Alice Winn, author of Sunday Times bestseller In Memoriam

‘A striking, moving exploration of good and evil, it is a novel that will stay with you.’ Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls

AS FEATURED ON BBC RADIO 4 WOMAN’S HOUR

Her decision changed history.
Now her family must survive it.

British Malaya, 1930s. Discontented housewife Cecily is seduced by Japanese general Fujiwara and the glorious future he is promising for ‘independent’ Malaya, free from British colonialism. As she becomes further embedded as his own personal spy, she unwittingly alters the fate of her country by welcoming in a punishing form of dictatorship under the Japanese in WWII.

Japanese-occupied Malaya, 1945. Cecily and her family are barely surviving. Her children, Jujube, Abel and Jasmin, are surrounded by threat, and look to their mother to keep them safe. But she can’t tell them about the part she played in the war – and she doesn’t know how to protect them.

Can Cecily face up to her past to save her children? Or is it already too late… ?

‘I’ll never forget this book‘ Jessamine Chan
‘One of the most powerful debuts I’ve ever read. A storytelling star is born’ Tracy Chevalier
‘Exceptionally brave, heart-breaking, beautiful, and moving. A significant contribution to world’s literature’ Nguyen Phan Que Mai