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Under the Pong Pong Tree

Name: Under the Pong Pong Tree
Author: Hal Levey
ISBN: 978-1-4917-7750-3

by Hal Levey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2015

An expansive but stifled drama about the ravages of war.

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A debut historical novel follows a young woman struggling in Singapore during and after the Japanese occupation and her abandoned daughter.

Set at the outset of the invasion of Singapore by brutal Japanese forces during World War II, this tale focuses on a teenage girl, Li Lian Goh, who is spared from death only to be forced into servitude in a military brothel. After she is impregnated by a sadistic Japanese officer, Li Lian flees the brothel to secure her own safety and to protect her child. Li Lian finds shelter in a Malay village, where she gives birth to her daughter, Maimunah. Leaving Maimunah to be raised in the village, Li Lian returns to Singapore to join the burgeoning resistance. During one of its jungle campaigns, she saves the lives of two sisters, the owners of a nearby rubber plantation, helping them to return home. Out of gratitude, the sisters leave their estate to Li Lian, where she quickly becomes successful in the rubber manufacturing business as well as in the estate’s secret production of opium and heroin. Li Lian’s triumph makes her a target of rival organizations, particularly as the heroin trade blossoms during the Vietnam War. With the influx of American armed forces into Singapore, heroin makes its way through the ranks, creating problems for military officials. American officer Mike Cagle is assigned to collaborate with the U.S. Embassy to trace the supply chain. Through his investigation of Singapore’s bars and brothels, Mike crosses paths with Maimunah, now a college student studying abroad. They quickly fall in love as Mike’s work draws their histories closer together and puts him in great danger. Levey crafts a plot that interweaves the characters’ lives with the conflict-laden history of Singapore. The novel provides a singular glimpse into the battles of that Asian nation, reflecting the hardships of those living through multiple generations of war and violence as well as providing details about the area’s rubber and opium trades, all explored in depth. Given the scope of the book’s preoccupations, it is not surprising that Levey struggles to maintain the narrative’s balance, with the story and prose often lagging, particularly during the technical or historical digressions. These shortcomings shouldn’t deter readers from becoming absorbed in the tragedies that the tale’s characters endure, but they undercut the novel’s ambitions.

An expansive but stifled drama about the ravages of war.

Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7750-3

Page Count: 256

Publisher: iUniverse

Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

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WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

by Georgia Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2017

Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.

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Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.

Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “You’ll get only one shot at this,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “Don’t botch it.” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “That form is a deal breaker,” he tells himself. “It’s life and death.” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.

Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016

Categories:

RELIGIOUS FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK TO SCREEN
Hulu’s ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ Adds To Cast

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.