We’re doing a little something different with our typical monthly line-up. Because we want to do a special episode to mark our 100th show, we are moving on to THE STORM WE MADE by Vanessa Chan. THE STORM WE MADE is based in part of the world our club hasn’t visited yet. It’s Malaya in 1945. In this novel, an ordinary housewife becomes an unlikely spy—her children (aged 7 to 17) try to survive the consequences of her deception. THE STORM WE MADE is one relatively few Western novels that tells a WW2 story from the perspective of the colonized rather than the colonizer or liberator. This book is an international best seller, New York Times Editors’ Choice, and was named Best Book of 2024 by Amazon, NPR, PEOPLE, ELLE, and GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, among others. It’s been translated in over 20 languages already. The book is told from the point of view of four characters: First, Cecily Alcantara, the dutiful housewife whose life changes when she meets the charming Englishman, Bingley Chan. Next, we sometimes hear from Jujube, Cecily’s oldest brilliant daughter who works in a tearoom to bring in money for the family after the Japanese invasion of Malaya. Third is Abel, Cecily’s middle child, who on his 15th birthday is kidnapped by the Japanese to work at a brutal labor camp. And finally, Jasmine, the youngest of Cecily’s children who is seven and trying to make sense of her changed family and life. When done well, Nancy really enjoys books that take readers into the thoughts of various characters. As a reader you get to understand their perspective and feel why they behave the way they do. Linda found each of the perspectives compelling. But, she said, as the book went along, she got very anxious about the fate of the children. Nancy liked Cecily’s perspective because she is such a complicated and morally ambiguous character. She foolhardily aides in the invasion of her country by the Japanese. She falls apart as the book progresses. Linda didn’t know much about Malaya, so she found the book fascinating because she was unfamiliar with the history of that part of the world during World War 2. She also thought the prejudice that is illustrated was interesting and how that prejudice leads to Cecily’s purported reason for abetting the Japanese. Nancy tells Linny that her in real life book club, this month, read a book also set in Malaya during World War 2, but from the perspective of American GIs who were ensnared in the Bataan Death March. The book is the THE LONG MARCH HOME by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee. This book also moves back and forth in time. From 10 years before the Japanese invasion to 1945 as the war is coming to an end, but there is still time for truly terrible things to happen to the Alcantara family. Nancy liked how moving to the time when Cecily becomes a spy for Japan to then her living the consequences of those action adds to the intrigue. It’s become a fairly standard structure for books. Linny said she was able to very easily follow the back and forth. Once the kids were in really harrowing situations, she said she was so stressed, she wanted to stay in the book’s present-day. Cecily is indoctrinated by the concept of Asia for Asians. Sort of like our parasite book! It’s interesting because Cecily has mixed heritage, including European blood which is highly-sought after by Malayans, since they are occupied by the British who mostly view the native population with disdain, except those few who are able to climb the ranks set aside for Malayans and those who can claim some European blood. Cecily’s husband has climbed the ranks in his community’s public works department, so he has good pay and is invited to fancy parties. It’s at one of these parties that Cecily meets the charismatic Bingley Chan, a Hong Kong businessman who swears allegiance to England. Cecily, after getting to know Bingley over some months, finds out he is a Japanese spy, Mr. Fujiwara. He is in Malaya to gather intel to help Japan invade Malaya. He tells Cecily, Japan will free Malaya from being oppressed by imperial Britain and Malaya will be ruled by Asians for Asians. Basically, it is propaganda that Cecily falls for. Her actions, in this book, speed Japan’s brutal occupation of her country, something that she becomes overwhelmed with grief about. But, she never tells anyone about her roll in aiding the occupation. The book illustrates how humans, in every society, throughout time look for ways to raise their own status over others. Here, Cecily likes the benefits of having Eurasian blood, until the Japanese take over and her children become vulnerable because they are lighter-skinned. But, they aren’t light-skinned enough that they don’t face inevitable discrimination by the British because they are obviously also Malayan. Cecily thinks since the Japanese look like Malayans her children will have a better future. Unfortunately, she doesn’t understand the Japanese have no intention of treating Malayans as equals and they are savage rulers. I think part of this was wanting the chance for greater status for herself and her children, but also Nancy thinks she was really bored with her lot in life as a dutiful wife and mother and espionage gives her a purpose that she never had before. It also made her think about what makes people vulnerable to propaganda. Linda agrees Cecily was seeking something more in her life. Linda liked how all of the characters were so multi-dimensional. Nancy felt it was difficult to figure out whether Fujiwara ever really cared for Cecily, but decides he did not, even though Cecily thinks she now occupies the more powerful position in the relationship. Ultimately, Fujiwara, even after he’s returned as a victorious conjuror, does not seek her out even though he must know that she and her children are suffering. Cecily is close friends with Lina , who is Bingley Chan’s wife. By now, Cecily is having a physical affair with Chan at the same time. When Lina dies in childbirth after Chan has disappeared (we know he’s gone back to Japan to ready for the invasion), Cecily promises to take care of the child, but abandons it. Linda thought Lena was more into the friendship even though she had a higher social status and that she is connected to Bingley. Nancy thinks Cecily is again deluding herself about what friendship is and what is necessary to be a friend. Linda thinks Lena provides Cecily with a distraction more than anything. Nancy notes that Cecily’s relationship with her husband is also very superficial. Linda thinks Cecily has issues around attachment in relationships, except when it comes to Bingley. There is a hollowness in Cecily. Nancy notes that this protagonist never really has a moment of catharsis or recognition. Cecily doesn’t. She doesn’t even take in her best friend’s baby. Nancy says that Cecily is an unpredictable mother. It would be hard to be her child. Yet, she is grief-stricken when her two children disappear. Linny never questioned Cecily’s love for her children. Nancy thinks Cecily was really self-involved. Linda says she really liked the oldest daughter’s storyline. She liked the story included a kind Japanese man. Linda was stressed something terrible would happen to her and she would make some poor decisions. Nancy though Jujube showed a lot of resilience and you feel she is going to come out of the war as whole as anyone. Linny hopes she gets away from her family, go back to school, and spread her wings. Nancy asks Linny about mass trauma, like a country going through a war. Linny says everyone impacts trauma differently. It’s not always even the amount of trauma or even the firsthand experience. Likewise, people heal in very individualized ways. Cecily feels she is a bad person because her spying led to the Japanese conquering her country. She thinks bad things happen to bad people and that she is a bad person. Linny thinks this will keep her from healing.