The Storm We Made

In 1930s British Malaya, Cecily Alcantara works as a low-level clerk while feeling the sting of colonial hierarchy. When she meets a charismatic Japanese operative named Fujiwara, she begins leaking information to his movement, believing his promises of an Asia ruled by Asians. By 1945, her actions have facilitated the brutal Japanese occupation of her home. The narrative shifts between Cecily’s betrayal and the perspectives of her three children as they suffer through the famine, forced labor, and violence resulting from her choices.

Readers drawn to historical fiction regarding the Pacific Theater will find a specific focus on the civilian cost of collaboration and the failure of anti-colonial idealism. This book appeals to those interested in the ethical ambiguity of survival during wartime and the long-term impact of political secrets on a family unit. The reader leaves with a detailed understanding of the particular horrors of the Japanese occupation in Southeast Asia and the permanent damage inflicted by desperate choices made in the pursuit of national sovereignty.