Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Of lovers and ghosts


Growing Up with Ghosts -- by Bernice Chauly (Matahari Books, RM40.00)

She is Chinese, he is Punjabi. It is 1966. Loh Siew Yoke and Surinder Singh fall in love and marry but face opposition from their families. Their first child brings peace, but tragedy soon strikes.

Haunted by the untimely death of her father, Malaysian writer Bernice Chauly embarks on a journey to unravel the mystery surrounding a curse that is thought to have plagued her family. She traces a hundred years of her family history to Fatshan, China and Verka, India to recount and relive her ancestors’ lives against the histories of India, China, Singapore and Malaya. Through prose, letters and journals in different voices, the author creates a layered portrait of how two families traversed time to collide through love and death.

Growing up with Ghosts is a moving memoir of the author coming to terms with grief, history and bloodlines.

Other new malaysian books on the shelf:

  1. Tulip in the Desert
  2. The 4 Pillars of Islam
  3. Bahasa melayu Bahasa Dunia
  4. Cheng Ho Muslim Tionghua
  5. Musium Negara
  6. Malaysian Youth in Global World
  7. Yes, Jom Ubah
  8. Modern Muslim Identities