Thank you Libro.fm / Simon and Schuster Audio, for the ALC and Mary Sue Rucci Books, #partner, for an advanced copy of The Storm We Made in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: S&S/Mary Sue Rucci Books / Simon and Schuster Audio
Published: January 2, 2024
Summary:
A novel about a Malayan mother who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII—and the shocking consequences that rain upon her community and family.
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.
Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.
A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.
My thoughts:
This is the type of historical fiction I love reading, despite how heartbreaking the story is. A debut novel inspired by the author’s family, this book takes a look at Malaya before, during and after WWII.
With the dual times and having the story told from multiple points of view, it really puts you into the story, seeing the impacts of both the British and Japanese invasions. We see firsthand what life was like under these different rules and while at times it was not easy to be in the different points of view, it was very captivating the way it was written and these are the stories that need to be told. We can’t shy away from the truths of war and what really happened. The devastations of colonization, the horrors that come with captivity, the survival, the secrets – it’s hard to take and yet told with compassion.
The writing of this story is beautifully done and I found myself completely immersed in the book. The characters all come to life and I particularly loved having both adult and child perspectives – it really gave such a unique look at how this impacted everyone and making me more emotionally invested. I happened to pair the print copy with the audio which helped with the pronunciations but having the physical on hand really helped keep track of all the characters – there are a lot and initially this is a bit burdensome.
I read historical fiction to learn and this one sure did that and more. I can’t wait to see what is next from Vanessa Chan…whatever it is, I’ll be picking it up!
Audio thoughts:
This was narrated by Samantha Tan and she did a phenomenal job with it, bringing an emotional depth to the story that was needed.
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