- Malaysian author -
SURIA TEI
(CHIEW-SIAH TEI)
The Mouse Deer Kingdom
The year is 1905 and Chai Mingzhi, an immigrant newly arrived in the port-town of Malacca, takes Engi, an indigenous boy from the tropical forest, to live with him. Trapped in the realm he doesn't recognize and finding himself caught up in Chai Mingzhi's bitter personal affairs, Engi quickly learns to take on the shape of the legendary mouse deer in order to survive in the outside world. Twenty years later, Engi sets out to unravel the mystery surrounding Chai's past, his tireless quest for the land where the grand Minang Villa is built, and the tragedy that destroyed him.
The Mouse Deer Kingdom is a tale of love and betrayal against the backdrop of a troubled time when hundreds of thousands of Chinese fled poverty and the Qing Empire for Southeast Asia, where their arrival unsettled the native lives in their new home.
Chiew-Siah Tei is a master storyteller, and a rare talent. The Malaysian writer has that magical ability of being able to weave a spell over her readers, with riveting plots and prose that glows with life.... Tei has crafted a literary form all of her own. Her writing has the subtleties and nuances of Chinese prose... yet is written in masterful English, creating a strikingly original voice.
Time Out Hong Kong
... a story full of complexity and intelligence... What else anchors us is also what anchors in the narration itself: food, for example, as well as the smells and sights of it, permeates this novel with a deliciousness and a colour that enriches Tei's clear-cut prose, giving it a sensual quality without an easy exoticism.
The Scotsman
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