Tan Twan Eng was born in Penang in 1972. He is a Malaysian author of fiction . He used to study law at University of London and later worked at Kuala Lumpur`s law firm before he becoming a full time writer. He wrote 2 novels which is The Gift of Rain (2007 ) and The Garden of Evening Mists (2012).
1. The Gift of Rain ( 2007 )
-It is set in Penang in the years leading up to and during the Japanese occupation of Malaya in World War II.
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 which include his best friend Kon.
2. The Garden of Evening Mists ( 2012)
Newly retired Supreme Court Judge Yun Ling Teoh returns to the Cameron Highlands of Malaya, where she spent a few months several years earlier. Oncoming aphasia
is forcing her to deal with unsettled business from her youth while she
is still able to remember. She starts writing her memoires, and agrees
to meet with Japanese preofessor Yoshikawa Tatsuji. Tatsuji is
interested in the life and works of artist Nakamura Aritomo, who used to
be the gardener of the Japanese Emperor, but moved to this area to build his own garden.
During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, Yun Ling was in a Japanese civilian internment camp
with her sister, Yun Hong. Yun Hong did not make it out alive, and
after the war was over, Yun Ling decided to fulfil a promise made to her
sister: to build a Japanese garden in their home in Kuala Lumpur. She travelled to the highlands to visit family friend Magnus Pretorius, an ex-patriate South African
tea farmer who knew Aritomo. Aritomo refused to work for Yun Ling, but
agreed to take her on as an apprentice, so she could later build her own
garden. In spite of her resentment against the Japanese, she agreed to
work for Aritomo, and later became his lover.
During the conversations with Tatsuji, it comes out that Aritomo was
involved in a covert Japanese program during the war, to hide looted treasures
from occupied territories. The rumours of this so-called "Golden Lily"
program were widespread, and Magnus was killed trying to save his family
from the Communist guerilla,
who came looking for the gold. Aritomo never talked about the treasure
to Yun Ling, but gradually it becomes clear that he might have left a
clue to its location. Before he disappeared into the jungle, he made a horimono
tattoo on her back. It now appears this tattoo might contain a map to
the location of the treasure. Yun Ling decides that, before she dies,
she must make sure that no-one will be able to get their hand on her
body, and the map. In the meantime, she sets out to restore Aritomo's
dilapidated garden
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