The Diverse Bookshelf
Welcome to The Diverse Bookshelf. I’m Samia Aziz, celebrating the power of literature and the voices of authors and change makers from the global majority. Join me as we explore the stories that inspire, connect, and transform our world. Each week I interview an inspiring guest about a whole host of themes and issues while focusing on diverse literature.
Let’s uncover the stories that truly matter—together.
The Diverse Bookshelf
Ep80: Vanessa Chan on the Japanese occupation of Malaysia, big families & characters with agency
On this week’s episode, I’m talking to Vanessa Chan about her debut novel, an absolutely mesmerising story set across two timelines: 1930s and 1945 in Malaya – what Malaysia was called before independence. It is a story with four different perspectives, following the decision made by one woman to become a spy for Japan, and the dreadful consequences that befall her family and country, afterwards.
Vanessa Chan is the Malaysian author of The Storm We Made, a national bestseller, Good Morning America Book Club Pick and BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. Acquired by international publishers in a flurry of auctions, the novel, her first, will be published in more than twenty languages worldwide. Her other work has been published in Vogue, Esquire, and more. Vanessa grew up in Malaysia and is now based mostly in Brooklyn.
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