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| author = [[Tan Twan Eng]] |
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| cover_artist = Caroline Tomlinson for [http://www.jellylondon.com/ jellylondon.com] |
| cover_artist = [http://carolinetomlinson.com/ Caroline Tomlinson]] for [http://www.jellylondon.com/ jellylondon.com] |
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| country = United Kingdom |
| country = United Kingdom |
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| language = English |
| language = English |
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Revision as of 10:57, 1 September 2013
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2008) |
 1st edition (UK) | |
| Author | Tan Twan Eng |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Caroline Tomlinson] for jellylondon.com |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Myrmidon (UK) Weinstein (US) |
Publication date | 2007 (UK), 2008 (US) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print & eBook |
| Pages | 448 |
| ISBN | 1-905802-04-8 |
The Gift of Rain is the first novel by Tan Twan Eng published in 2007 by Myrmidon Books in the UK and the following year by Weinstein Books in the U.S. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize that year.[1]
Plot introduction
It is set in Penang in the years leading up to and during the Japanese occupation of Malaya in World War II.[2] It concerns Philip Hutton, of mixed Chinese-English heritage, and his relationship with Endo-San, a Japanese diplomat who teaches him aikido. As war looms and the Japanese invade, both Endo-San and Philip find themselves torn between their loyalty to each other and to their country and family respectively. Philip decides to assist the Japanese and Endo-San in administering the country in an attempt to keep his family safe, but wherever possible passes intelligence to the guerilla fighters of Force 136,[3] which include his best friend Kon.
Characters
- Philip Hutton - the son of Noel Hutton and his second wife Khoo Yu Lian,[clarification needed] who became a student of Hayato Endo
- Hayato Endo - Phillip's teacher, a Japanese diplomat with a dark secret, and whose father was condemned as traitor after he criticised the emperor
- Michiko Murakami - an old widow and Hayato's love interest
- Noel Hutton - the father of William, Edward, Isabel and Philip. His wives were lost during childbirth
- William Hutton - Philip's half-brother who worked with Prince of Wales and who later dies when Japanese planes hit British navy
- Isabel Hutton - Philip's half-sister who become close to Philip's mother.[clarification needed]
- Edward Hutton - Philip's half-brother who died whilst working as a POW at the death railway in Burma
- Akashi Saotome - Endo's friend who was informer was killed by Yong Kwan after Phillip lured him
- Kon - a friend of the Cross family who becomes Philip's friend
- Kanazawa-san - a Japanese shopkeeper
- Uncle Lim - The Hutton family's chauffeur who was fervently anti-Japanese. He later betrayed the Huttons whom he blamed for his daughter's death.
- Khoo Yu Mei - Philip's aunt, and Yu Lian's older sister whose husband Harry was killed in a riot between the Chinese and Malays.
- Maria - Philip's maid
- Miss Lim - Philip's secretary
- Phillip's grandfather - Father of Yu Mei and Yu Lian who used to work with Emperor Wen Zu.
- Ming - Daughter of the family chauffeur, Uncle Lim. She was brought to Penang when the Japanese invaded China and married local fisherman, Ah Hock. Her husband died during the Sook Ching massacre and she committed suicide afterwards.
- Henry Cross - Patriarch of the Empire Trading, the largest trading house in Penang, and the only one larger than Noel Hutton's own company at the time
- George Cross - son of Henry Cross. At George's 15th birthday party, Phillip was to meet his future best friend, Kon.
- Shigeru Hiroshi - the Japanese consul in Penang. Had an altercation with Phillip when the latter questioned his assertion on the Japanese army's discipline by mentioning the Nanjing Massacre
- Hideki Tanaka - Kon's master and Endo's rival
- Penelope Cheah - a journalist who interviews Philip and whose grandfather is a victim of a torture by a Japanese soldier
- Martin Edgecumbe - a drunken Englishman who is saved by Phillip and Kon and is revealed as a secret agent
- Towkay Yeap - Kon's father, a triad leader
- Peter MacAllister - Lawyer of Huttons whom Isabel fall in love and sent to Changi prison along with Edward, and later to work on the death railway in Burma [clarification needed]
- Ramanathan : Indian Waiter who is an anti-British fighter
- Matsuda : Warden of Changi Prison
- Fujihara: A sadistic Japanese general who forced Philip to be a collaborator
- Su Yen : a female Communist guerilla who become Kon's lover. She became embittered after aborting their child, and later played a pivotal role in Kon's death.
- Ah Hock : Ming's husband who died at the hands of the Japanese during the Sook Ching pogrom
- Chua : Ming's father-in-law and village headman of Kampong Dugong
- Yong Kwan - a vicious guerilla leader from the Communist Party of Malaya, suspicious of Kon and Phillip
- General Erskine - a British general who led the return of Allied troops to Penang and accepted Japanese surrender on the island
References
- ^ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/e/tan-twan-eng/gift-of-rain.htm
- ^ The Observer: Booker judges tear up form book to produce giant killing long list, 8th Aug 2007
- ^ The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng, Myrmidon p/b edition, page 207