The family of Francis Light faces an uncertain future. As Penang heads inexorably towards colonial rule, Martinha struggles to claim her rightful inheritance, encountering corruption, prejudice and heartbreak in equal measure. Scattered across the world, her children are forced to negotiate the British establishment alone as best they can with ......
Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta - home to over 10 million people with more than 30 million in its greater metropolitan area - stands as a testament to resilience, reinvention and the enduring spirit of its inhabitants.
Inspired by the vibrant mix of people who have settled here over the centuries and by the labyrinthine kampung that crisscross ......
Munin, a former political prisoner, runs Blitar Magic Garage in Setiabudi, a makeshift settlement in central Jakarta. When whispers of redevelopment threaten Setiabudi's fragile balance, Munin and his neighbours are forced to confront a dark web of corruption, greed and political manoeuvring. While they grapple with their pasts and futures, ......
Cigarette Girl is more than a love story and the soul-searching journey of three brothers. Set on the island of Java, the story follows the evolution of a family’s kretek, or clove cigarette, business, introducing readers to three generations of Indonesia’s history through cloves and unrequited love.
Millie Lee is 22, smart and ready to start the Singaporean media job of her dreams. She just has to avoid the sexual advances of dirty old men in a newsroom both digitally and emotionally stunted. This is the fictional memoir of a young woman in Singapore trying to make it in a mans media world.
Half of Joseph Conrads body of work is set in late 19th-century Southeast Asia and his favourite destinations were Singapore and the remote ports of the Dutch East Indies. Burnet connects the fictional and real worlds in this fascinating introduction to Conrads life in the Malay archipelago.
Operation Hunter is the ninth in a series of books involving Gurkha military units that may be read in any order. The author, JP Cross, a retired Gurkha colonel, old jungle hand and counter-insurgency expert, draws on real events he witnessed during his time fighting in the Malayan Emergency.
The tragicomic tale of an Indonesian migrant worker's voyage through love and betrayal
Maya, a thirty-something Indonesian, takes a leap of faith from Jakarta to a job as a waitress aboard a European cruise ship. Set in cruise ship cabins and East London pubs, this tragicomedy is a tale of survival, a search for identity, and the hope of finding a harbour in lifes stormy sea.
Intrigue, betrayal and war in Indonesia's greatest empire
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Majapahit kingdom reigned supreme in eastern Java, and its influence stretched far and wide, throughout present-day Indonesia, parts of the Malay peninsula and the island of Tumasek, now Singapore.