The Accidental Malay

by Karina Robles Bahrin

Overview

Winner of the Epigram Books Fiction Prize
‘Slick, sharp . . . a joy to read’ - Tash Aw, author of Five Star Billionaire

Jasmine Leong is the heiress apparent to Phoenix, her family’s billion-ringgit company known especially for its pork snacks. When her grandmother, the great Madame Leong, unexpectedly passes away, Jasmine discovers she is actually a Malay Muslim and this newfound identity threatens to upend her life and ambitions.

Finding herself at the centre of a political controversy, and caught between two men who love her, Karina Robles Bahrin's The Accidental Malay examines the human cost of a country’s racial policies and paints a portrait of a woman unwilling to accept the fate history has designated for her.

'A novel both generous and scathing; both honest and nuanced; both grounded in human emotion and engaged with history and politics' - Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening Is the Whole Day

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781035032389
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan
Publication date:	08/15/2024
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	403 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Karina Robles Bahrin got her first break as a writer when she guest-edited a weekly teen column in The New Straits Times a very long time ago. Her short fiction has been published in Urban Odysseys: KL Stories, KL Noir: Blue, A Subtle Degree of Restraint&Other Stories and Malaysian Tales: Retold&Remixed. She currently lives and works on the island of Langkawi where she runs a hotel, restaurant, farm and community initiative promoting storytelling among the island’s youth and children. The Accidental Malay is her first novel.
Karina Robles Bahrin got her first break as a writer when she guest edited a weekly teen column in The New Straits Times a very long time ago. Her short fiction has been published in venues such as Urban Odysseys: KL Stories, KL Noir: Blue, A Subtle Degree of Restraint&Other Stories and Malaysian Tales: Retold&Remixed. She is a former columnist with The Heat, a weekly by Focus Malaysia. She currently lives and works on the island of Langkawi where she runs a hotel, restaurant, farm and community initiative promoting storytelling among the island’s youth and children. The Accidental Malay is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

A sharply observed, elegantly crafted culture-clash state-of-the-nation drama that is not only witty but heartfelt.” —Epigram Book Fiction Prize Judges

“Desire, religion and politics collide in this delicious debut . . . Slick, sharp and full of the frustrations and joys of modern urban Malaysia” —Tash Aw, author of We, The Survivors

“A deeply nuanced study in the sometimes suffocating intertwining of race and religion for Malay-Muslims.” —Suffian Hakim, author of Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher

“A novel both generous and scathing . . . a fast-paced, character-driven, furious and yet somehow joyful exploration of Malay ethnoreligious supremacy” —Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening is the Whole Day

“Braving the intersections and contradictions of race, class and gender, one woman’s private campaign for self- definition becomes a search for love amidst corporate manoeuvrings, familial pressures and the challenging complexities of her country’s cultural politics.” —Cyril Wong, author of This Side of Heaven

“Stylish, trenchant, yet brimming with heart, The Accidental Malay captures the complexities of contemporary Malaysia with wit and grace” —Kirstin Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Counterfeit

From the Publisher