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reviewed The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw

Tash Aw: The Harmony Silk Factory (Paperback, 2006, Riverhead Books) 5 stars

The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) is Tash Aw's critically acclaimed first novel, set in 1940s …

Couldn't stop reading this brilliant story of 1940s Malaya

5 stars

I couldn't stop reading this. A brilliant, totally captivating story set in mostly in 1940s Malaya. It's a mix of fact and fiction (even though I've been to Malaysia and the Batu Caves outside KL, I never knew about the Batu Caves Massacre, where most of the leaders of the communist Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPSJA) were betrayed and killed). But more than anything, it's a story of love and a more personal kind of betrayal - the story of one man told from three very different perspectives.