BOOK DISCUSSION: "The Gift of Rain" by Twan Eng

Please join us for a discussion of Twan Eng's novel.


The recipient of extraordinary acclaim from
critics and the bookselling community, Tan Twan Eng's debut novel casts a
powerful spell and has garnered comparisons to celebrated wartime
storytellers Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene. Set during the tumult
of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits.In
1939, sixteen-year-old Philip Hutton-the half-Chinese, half-English
youngest child of the head of one of Penang's great trading
families-feels alienated from both the Chinese and British communities.
He at last discovers a sense of belonging in his unexpected friendship
with Hayato Endo, a Japanese diplomat. Philip proudly shows his new
friend around his adored island, and in return Endo teaches him about
Japanese language and culture and trains him in the art and discipline
of aikido. But such knowledge comes at a terrible price. When the
Japanese savagely invade Malaya, Philip realizes that his mentor and
sensei-to whom he owes absolute loyalty-is a Japanese spy. Young Philip
has been an unwitting traitor, and must now work in secret to save as
many lives as possible, even as his own family is brought to its knees.