A spellbinding novel of war and family betrayal set in Malaysia - The God of Small Things for our century
Catherine Menon is Australian-British, has Malaysian heritage and lives in London. She is a University lecturer in robotics and has both a PhD in pure mathematics and an MA in Creative Writing. Fragile Monsters is her debut novel.
Supple, artful, skilful storytelling - it takes an immediate grip
on the reader's imagination and doesn't let go
A brilliant novel about homecoming and the layered, unstable past
that haunts and hurts . . . I admire it enormously
An impressive debut, atmospheric and unsettling
*Telegraph, 5 stars*
A striking debut . . . A bold, interesting novel . . . I'm excited
to see what Menon comes up with next
*Sunday Times*
A bravura debut novel . . . It's clever, satisfying, and often
playful
*Guardian*
This is a book saturated with the sensations of southeast Asia;
where, in Menon's pungent turns of phrase, you feel as though you
could "grab the air in two hands and wring it out"; where guilt can
be "squatting in the room . . . stringy as spit", and where tiger
princes and jungle spirits lurk amid a painful colonial past
*The Times, pick of the latest fiction*
A rich and moving family history takes shape, filled with love and
heartache, guilt and grief, and no end of secrets and lies . . .
Gripping, compelling . . . Menon's story shows that, though time
flows on, history's waves still ripple decades downstream
*Economist*
Menon is a sparky storyteller whose thickly atmospheric debut keeps
us guessing as its many ghosts press in ever closer
*Daily Mail*
A beautiful, richly textured absorbing read. I was utterly
transported
*Irenosen Okojie*
A propulsive debut scattered with gems of fresh and surprising
imagery. Menon is at her best exploring the intricate bond between
women over generations, their histories strung tight over the
fraught realities of a nation coming into being
*Preti Taneja*
Always here for a cross-generational family story, especially one
that involves moral ambivalence
*Marian Keyes selection for her PageTurners top reads*
An intriguing, fast-paced, imaginative novel
*Bad Form*
A beautifully written story of one Indian Malaysian family's
history, entwined with secrets and hidden heartbreak . . . Fragile
Monsters is a story of homecoming which illustrates the tension of
returning to a past which remains painfully present . . . a
cleverly-crafted family saga which explores themes of truth,
belonging and shame across multiple generations
*Asian Review of Books*
Leavened with a brisk, dry humour, Fragile Monsters is as
propulsive as any mystery, with a bewitching sense of place . . .
an accomplished feat of multi-stranded storytelling
*Evening Standard*
Lyrically beautiful writing
*i*
Spellbinding
*Tatler Malaysia*
A story about love, betrayal and redemption with an electric
daughter-grandmother relationship at its heart
*Sheer Luxe, reading recommendation*
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