A romance spanning time, South-Eastern Asian history, beautiful writing of a story out of time. Those are rarely character features of a debut novel that one can encounter once at a time. The Light Between Us by Elaine Chiew, published by Neem Tree Press met all those criteria, and a couple of extra more.
From the very beginning I may confess that my literary taste buds for time travel, especially when it involves some supernatural connections - except djinns, I do have a weakness for djinns - but in the case of this book, the serious research and the story itself allows this element to slide as a mythological encounter. I´ve felt like it does not alter the sense of the story, but rather allows the reader to access a different literary dimension.
While doing some archive and historical research about Singapore, photographer and archivist Charlie Sze-Toh receives a letter from a famous local photographer who lived in the 1920s. Through some photographic plates, a conversation enfolds, leading Charlie to an unknown world of fear and anguish, fearing the Japanese Occupation.
In a very dynamic yet symbiotic way, the timelines from both eras do offer a generous space for expanding and explaining the narrative. From the family issues Charlie is facing - vaguely but necessarily justifying the associationl of the book with Crazy Rich Asians - to the carefully curated details of the life in a Japanese brothel in Singapore in the 1920s, the book has so many narrative twists that do keep the reader involved in the life of the characters, no matter how unlikely their involvement may sound like.
I deeply enjoyed reading The Light Between Us. This book only made me nostalgic for South-Eastern Asia and the trove of inspiration that lies there deeply hidden still waiting to be discovered and storyfied.
Rating: 5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
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