by Timothy Mo
First published 1991
Adolph Ng runs a small business in Dili when Indonesian forces invade East Timor in 1975. His mixed Chinese-Timorese family finds itself trapped between competing loyalties as the occupation turns increasingly violent. Adolph must navigate the dangerous politics of collaboration and resistance while protecting his wife and children. The Indonesian military tightens its grip on the territory through systematic brutality against the local population. Adolph watches neighbors disappear and friends choose sides in an conflict that offers no clear moral choices. His attempts to remain neutral become impossible as violence reaches his own doorstep. The family faces daily decisions about survival, dignity, and the price of staying alive under military rule. Mo examines how ordinary people respond when caught between their principles and their need to protect those they love.
Genres: fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Dili, East Timor, Indonesia
Period: 1975
408 pages · Hardcover · Chatto & Windus Ltd.
Content warnings: violence, war