El Jardín de las Brumas

The Garden Of Evening Mists began by thwarting my assumptions which is always a good way for a novel to capture my interest. It was so long since I had read the synopsis that I forgotten everything except its post-war Malaysia setting (or Malaya as it was then). So I envisaged Judge Teoh making his way to his retirement celebration only to be brought up short when She arrived! Tut tut me assuming a judge would be male!

Tan Twan Eng has created an absolutely beautiful novel here. I loved his delicate turns of phrase in describing the incredible natural Malaysian landscapes as well as the deliberate beauty of the eponymous garden. This garden is designed according to Japanese teachings and I felt the whole story reflected Japanese style. Its theme of cultural conflict takes many forms from the obvious of the austere garden on a lush mountainside, to the aftermath of the Japanese army's horrific acts against the Malaysian-Chinese population during the Second World War. Much of Teoh's post-war is an attempt to come to terms with her treatment during those war years and, while Tan steers clear of overtly graphic detail, we readers are left in no doubt as to what Teoh and her sister endured. She narrates in two timelines being desperate to remember her personal history before disease takes her memory forever.

Tan writes brilliantly for a female narrator and I never had any doubt that I was reading a woman's words. I also appreciated the diversity of his cast of characters. Malaya at this time was a fervent melting pot of cultures on the brink of shaking off British colonial rule so we not only see the aftermath of the war, but also the guerrilla struggles to establish an independent future. So many narrative threads should have made The Garden Of Evening Mists a complicated novel, but it actually has a real clarity of vision and portrayal. And it's just beautiful!