Review
The Gift of Rain should be high on readers' lists if
for no other reason than its lyrical narrative style. From
the first page the author spins a web of words around the
reader, drawing him or her into the sounds, sights and
smells of Malaya:
"The light was fading
and the scent of wet grass wove through the air like threads
entwining with the perfume of the flowers, creating an
intricate tapestry of fragrance. I was out on the terrace,
alone as I had been for many years, on the edge of sleep,
dreaming of another life. The door chimes echo through the
house, hesitant, unfamiliar in a place they seldom entered,
like a cat placing a tentative paw on a path it does not
habitually walk."
The book is divided into two parts. The
first half sets...
Beyond the Book
A Short History of Penang
Most of the action in
The Gift of Rain occurs on
the island of Penang (part of the Malayan state of Penang)
situated off the northwest corner of the Malay Peninsula, in
the Strait of Malacca (maps of
South-East Asia,
Malaysia and
Penang). The small, turtle-shaped island has a total
area of approximately 293 square kilometers (183 square
miles), with an estimated population of 678,000 (2007). Most
people live in or near the capital city of George Town. The
island itself is less developed than the rest of the state
of Penang, as its interior is hilly and densely forested.
Although mainland Malaysia itself has a long and...
