The Storm We Made: A heartbreaking literary debut of WWII to delight fans Anthony Doerr and Pachinko

Historian-epic spanning British Malaya in the 1930s and Japanese-occupied Malaya in 1945, The Storm We Made follows Cecily, a discontented housewife who is drawn into a dangerous alliance with a Japanese general and becomes a personal spy. Her choices reverberate through her family as war’s horrors unfold, testing her ability to protect her children—Jujube, Abel and Jasmin—while concealing her past. Set against the backdrop of wartime upheaval, the story examines the power of maternal love and the long shadows cast by difficult decisions. As the war intensifies, Cecily faces whether she can ever atone and safeguard those she loves, or if it is already too late.

Cecily’s path intersects with political upheaval, reshaping the fate of her country and the lives of her children. The narrative moves between peril and resilience, exploring how family bonds endure under pressure and how the past can shape the present in unforeseen ways.

Kenmerken

• Setting: British Malaya in the 1930s en Japanse bezetting, 1945
• Protagonist: Cecily, een ontevreden huisvrouw
• Verhaal: spy-thriller-achtige implicaties van haar keuzes
• Belangrijke kinderen: Jujube, Abel en Jasmin
• Thema’s: oorlog, moederschap, liefde en spijt
• Aantal pagina’s: 352; Eerste editie, paperback, Hodder & Stoughton