THE OUTER COUNTRY

A Thai family’s spiritual traditions chafe against American life.

Malasarn’s debut novel concerns the Chiwitchaiya family, which has emigrated from Thailand to Los Angeles: Siripon, Kamron, and their son, Rattawut, aka Ben. Tensions abound with each of them: Kamron, a factory worker, picks up drinking again after Ben turns 6, and Siripon, a nurse, is engaged in a long-running sibling rivalry with her sister, Manda Thrakoontong, who moved in with them after an unspoken disgrace back home. Who’s best- and worst-equipped to raise Ben becomes a running debate that intensifies after Manda spots Ben mimicking the dance moves of a woman on television; she calls in a monk to perform a ritual expunging any gay tendencies (in the form of a girl’s lost spirit) from the boy, which only serves to leave Ben with a chronic vomiting problem. Ben’s social standing declines, but his sexual orientation remains unchanged; as the years press on and Ben heads to college and finds a boyfriend, lingering impact of the ritual subtly frays his relations with his parents and the adults’ relationships with each other. Malasarn, a Thai American writer, deftly explores divergent cultural norms in Thailand and the U.S. (aka “the Outer Country”), especially when it comes to sexuality; a strong set piece explores Manda’s past as a teacher in Thailand and the incident that prompted her departure from the school where she taught. The characterizations are somewhat stiff, especially Kamron, whose alcoholism seems largely designed to set some bad-decision plot twists in motion. But the book is more winningly subtle when it comes to matters of spirituality, exploring how religious conviction can have powerful and long-lasting physical effects. That’s true of Ben’s vomiting affliction—which Malasarn handles with remarkable restraint—as well as his family.

A well-structured debut about a moment’s long-lasting aftereffects.