SALAMANDER MAN

Wolter’s historical novel chronicles the life of a disabled young man in Southeast Asia.

Idris’ life changes forever in 1943 when he contracts polio as a 4-year-old; unable to walk with his twisted legs, he crawls along the dusty ground. In his small fishing village of Kuala Terengganu in Malaya, peers mock him as “Salamander Man,” and many adults also behave unkindly, believing Idris has been cursed by the evil eye. The primary school headmaster won’t let Idris attend, stating “School isn’t for his kind.” Though he’s crushed, Idris educates himself, starting with a series of English school books decommissioned during the 1940s Japanese occupation of Malaya. Idris inserts himself into the stories of Andy, Betty, and their dog Cookie as a friend who is accepted despite his nonworking legs. Learning that Idris has again been rejected by the primary school, Uncle Rashid, a secondary school teacher, offers to tutor the boy in Islamic studies, literature, and geography. Idris also acquires two more mentors: Father Chao teaches him Chinese, and an English bank manager, Mr. Chadwick, becomes a personal friend. Idris becomes fluent in several languages, reads great works of literature like The Iliad and Ulysses, and receives a life-changing gift from Mr. Chadwick, but what he yearns for most seems unreachable—friends his own age (and, as he gets older, a girlfriend). Idris’ story could easily become sentimentalized, but Wolter portrays his main character as a flawed person, not a saintly martyr. (Idris gets angry with Father Chao and God for not fixing his legs and enjoys the revenge he takes on some mean older boys; he also sits in a tree, creepily spying on undressed women.) The book provides an intriguing snapshot of Idris’ village in the country then called Malaya as villagers wearing sarongs wash outdoors, children climb trees for fun, and Idris ingests turtle eggs and goat’s milk. After the introduction of Maimum, the most beautiful woman Idris has ever seen, the story edges into melodrama, but Idris, who loves books for “transporting [him] to other times and other places,” leaves a lasting impression.

An empathetic tale that captures its time and place.