Tan Twan Eng

Tan Twan Eng (credit to http://www.themanbookerprize.com/people/tan-twan-eng)

This Penangite spends his time between South Africa and Malaysia coagulates his inspiration within and without. Born into Chinese descendents in 1972 as a male heir of the Tan clan, he has since made Malaysia proud. Being the first Malaysian to win Man Asian Literary Prize with his book The Gift of Rain (2012), Tan Twan Eng continues to charm the world. 

It is true, the (majority) Malaysian mentality is if a person wins an award, on a global scale, only will the local masses pay attention to one. Like Shila Amzah, Tan Twan Eng is no exception. Giving birth to two novels that are landscaped in Malaysia, this Historical Fiction erudite cites his admiration from an array of accomplished writers, Julian Barnes, Vikram Seth, David Mitchell, Martin Booth, Salman Rushdie, Colm Toibin, Vladimir Nabokov, and Hilary Mantel, and is influenced by Kazuo Ishiguro.

His works are;
1) The Gift of Rain 
2) The Garden of Evening Mists (2012)

The Garden of Evening Mists

The Garden of Evening Mists, published in January 2012 was shortlisted and then won the Man Asian Literary Prizebooks. This summary is taken from http://www.litlovers.com/;


Malaya, 1949. After studying law at Cambrige and time spent helping to prosecute Japanese war criminals, Yun Ling Teoh, herself the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle fringed plantations of Northern Malaya where she grew up as a child. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the Emperor of Japan. 

Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in Kuala Lumpur, in memory of her sister who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses, but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice "until the monsoon comes." Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to her sensei and his art while, outside the garden, the threat of murder and kidnapping from the guerrillas of the jungle hinterland increases with each passing day. 

But the Garden of Evening Mists is also a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? Why is it that Yun Ling's friend and host Magnus Praetorius, seems to almost immune from the depredations of the Communists? What is the legend of "Yamashita's Gold" and does it have any basis in fact? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

The Gift of Rain

  A Gift of Rain, loglisted for Man Booker Prize 2007

"The Gift of Rain spans decades as it takes readers from the final days of the Chinese emperors to the dying era of the British Empire, and through the mystical temples, bustling cities,and forbidding rain forests of Malaya." In 1939, sixteen-year-old Philip Hutton - the half-Chinese, half-English youngest child of the head of one of Penang's great trading families - feels alienated from both the Chinese and British communities. He discovers a sense of belonging in his unexpected friendship with Hayato Endo, a Japanese diplomat who rents a nearby island from his father. Philip proudly shows his new friend around his adored island of Penang, and in return Endo teaches him about Japanese language and culture and trains him in the art and discipline of aikido. But such knowledge comes at a terrible price. As World War II rages in Europe, the Japanese savagely invade Malaya, and Philip realizes that his mentor and sensei - to whom he owes absolute loyalty - is a Japanese spy. Young Philip has been an unwitting traitor, and he is forced into collaborating with the Japanese to safeguard his family. He becomes the ultimate outsider, trusted by none and hated by many. Tormented by his part in the events, Philip risks everything by working in secret to save as many people as he can from the brutality he has helped bring upon them.( Cited from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1219949.The_Gift_of_Rain)

Works Cited from

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/books/2013/05/tan-twan-eng-interview-i-have-no-alternative-but-to-write-in-english/
http://www.litlovers.com/
http://tantwaneng.com/