‘Better to be a rich man’s concubine than a poor man’s wife.’

In Kuala Lumpur in the 1930s, sixteen-year-old Yu Lan is the daughter of an apothecary. She dreams of marrying her friend Ming, whose father owns one of the busiest coffee shops in Petaling Street. She believes that Ming is waiting for the right time to ask his father. But Ming’s family do not see Yu Lan as a suitable wife for their son: her father Lim is a gambler. Lim decides to sell Yu Ming as a second wife, a concubine, to the ageing Towkay Chan. Towkay Chan is the wealthy owner of a tin mine whose wife has been unable to bear him an heir. Madam Chan becomes jealous of Yu Lan and makes her life even more difficult. After her son is born, Yu Lan tries to escape.

‘You must be fluid like water, for water defeats the strongest stone in time.’

Four generations later, Nick Chan in Hampshire, UK, is searching for his family history. An opportunity for Nick to work in Kuala Lumpur presents, and he takes it. Nick’s wife Sarah doesn’t accompany him, staying behind because of her own work and other commitments. And then, two years later, fate emerges to insert yet another twist.

Yes, Gentle Reader, there are links between past and present. Some of those links will seem obvious, some may seem improbable. But who can be sure, really sure, of how lives are shaped, of the influences of ancestors, of how destiny is decreed?

I was totally caught up in the story set in Kuala Lumpur, but for me the story lost some momentum with the shift to the UK. Even so, I found that I couldn’t put the novel down. I wanted to know how it would end. Yu Lan might only appear in part of the novel, but she casts a long shadow across the rest of it.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

The reader is taken on a journey, from 1930 old Malaysia, a melting pot of different cultures to modern day 2015, England. In 1930 Yu Lan who could be best described as a wilful girl but then most teenagers are self absorbed and some easily distracted and forming romantic notions for which sometimes cannot ever be fulfilled. Yu Lan’s father does have a reasonable apothecary business, however he is a gambler and when presented with the opportunity to make a financial hit by selling off his daughter as a concubine for Towkay Chan a man without a male child heir, his wife unable to conceive, he takes it. Madam Chan is a self absorbed woman who becomes jealous of Yu Lan, her husband forming a strong sexual attraction to the teenager. He also makes allowances for the teenagers wilful and moody behaviour which further adds to the malevolence directed towards her. Yu Lan after giving birth to a son realises that she is now in a dangerous position and faced with uncertain future she embarks on a plan to resolve her plight. The author moves the story to Hampshire, Nick and wife Sarah 2015, this is a big leap in time and gets a little bogged down in being able to connect the dots. This is a whole new story and one that would have served better as a sequel. Sarah has her own separate issues dealing with her very needy mother and her work which seems to dominate both their lives, she controls the relationship. Nick has a calming personality but is puzzled why his family’s history is secreted from him. An opportunity allows him to travel to Kuala Lumpur where he discovers the truth about his heritage but then he, through a twist of fate repeats history, leaving Sarah with a difficult and emotional quandary to deal with.

Thank you HarperCollins Australia and Netgalley for this ARC.

I absolutely savoured this wonderful book. Set between 1930’s Malaysia and today, this often times sad book takes us on a journey to another time, place and circumstances of life.

I highly recommend this thought provoking book.
4.5 stars ⭐️

This was a sad story, consisting of dual timelines 1930's and 2017, both join together to leave you with a feeling of hope for what the future might bring. The 1930's Malaysian part of the story was very interesting albeit sad, learning about the fate of young girls who are bought and sold like commodities by their families, in this case as a concubine to a rich man, about the superstitions, beliefs and rituals they must carry out to please the ancestors and the gods, all made me glad I was not born in that era or that country. Nick from the 2017 timeline is the link to the past and we slowly learn what happens to the concubine and the Chan family. There are some unexpected events that revolve around Nick which in turn brought about some interesting twists. A very interesting and thought provoking story.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for a copy in return for an honest review.