Synopsis
Winner of the Epigram Books Fiction Prize
‘Slick, sharp . . . a joy to read’ - Tash Aw, author of Five Star Billionaire
Jasmine Leong is the heiress apparent to Phoenix, her family’s billion-ringgit company known especially for its pork snacks. When her grandmother, the great Madame Leong, unexpectedly passes away, Jasmine discovers she is actually a Malay Muslim and this newfound identity threatens to upend her life and ambitions.
Finding herself at the centre of a political controversy, and caught between two men who love her, Karina Robles Bahrin's The Accidental Malay examines the human cost of a country’s racial policies and paints a portrait of a woman unwilling to accept the fate history has designated for her.
'A novel both generous and scathing; both honest and nuanced; both grounded in human emotion and engaged with history and politics' - Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening Is the Whole Day
Details
15 August 2024
9781035032372Reviews
A sharply observed, elegantly crafted culture-clash state-of-the-nation drama that is not only witty but heartfelt.Epigram Book Fiction Prize Judges
Desire, religion and politics collide in this delicious debut . . . Slick, sharp and full of the frustrations and joys of modern urban MalaysiaTash Aw, author of We, The Survivors
A deeply nuanced study in the sometimes suffocating intertwining of race and religion for Malay-Muslims.Suffian Hakim, author of Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher
A novel both generous and scathing . . . a fast-paced, character-driven, furious and yet somehow joyful exploration of Malay ethnoreligious supremacyPreeta Samarasan, author of Evening is the Whole Day
