Coming Of Age

From the author of the internationally acclaimed The Harmony Silk Factory comes an enthralling novel that evokes an exotic yet turbulent place and time—1960s Indonesia during President Sukarno’s drive to purge the country of its colonial past. A page-turning story, Map of the Invisible World follows the journeys of two brothers and an American woman who are indelibly marked by the past—and swept up in the tides of history.

16-year-old adam is an orphan three times over he and his older brother, johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; he watched as johan was adopted and taken away by a wealthy couple; and he had to hide when karl, the dutch man who raised him, was arrested by soldiers during sukarnos drive to purge 1960s indonesia of its colonial past adam sets out on a quest to find karl, but all he has to guide him are some old photos and letters, which send him to the colourful, dangerous capital, jakarta johan, meanwhile, is living a seemingly carefree, privileged life in malaysia, but is careening out of control, unable to forget the long-ago betrayal of his helpless, trusting brother map of the invisible world is a masterful novel, and confirms tash aw as one of the most exciting young writers at work today