The Rice Mother - Tapa blanda

'It would be difficult not to be seduced by the evocation of setting, family life, clothes, food and the intriguing mixture of myth, religion and superstition ... there is a freedom and freshness in the manner in which the author explores the interior life of her characters ... It possesses a genuine intimacy and passionate involvement.' -- Elizabeth Buchan, Times Play 'THE RICE MOTHER is exactly the kind of absorbing, cross-generational read that will pass away a few more train journeys than the average popular paperback ... Emotionally satisfying, complex books like this are harder to find.' -- Heat 'I simply didn't want it to end ... The characters themselves, with their resolute individualism, ultimately seem larger than either the superbly drawn historical background or the novel's exotic setting' -- Image Magazine 'A wonderful treasure-house of a story, a gem of a first novel. There is real, bursting talent here.' -- Sue Morgan, The Bookseller 'Echoes of Memoirs of a Geisha in this exotic family saga' -- Mirror 'You'll struggle to find a more powerful, moving read this year.' -- Glamour 'You'll love Rani Manicka's first novel.' -- New Woman 'Echoes of Memoirs of a Geisha in this exotic family saga' -- Mirror 'Powerful' -- Sunday Mirror 'Drips with local colour ... wonderful.' -- Daily Mail 'Much of the appeal of a novel like The Rice Mother rests in its whispered promises of escapism' -- Observer 'A delicious fictional cocktail packed with Malaysian flavours ... Its characters are original, its canvas broad, and Manicka's radiant prose brings out all the dark lushness of her ultimately tragic tale.' -- Hwee Hwee Tan, Time Asia 'A vivid storyteller ... Unfolding over four generations like a Greek tragedy, it's a compulsive and often harrowing tale.' -- In Style 'Manicka has an imaginative sense of character and an equally deft hand at weaving folk tales and mythology.' -- Far Eastern Review 'After Memoirs of A Geisha there were lots of copycats, but only this comes close in terms of excellence. A stunning generation-spanning story.' -- Heat 'Rich in domestic detail essential for a convincing family saga ... this novel transcends its genre ... she has created a novel with its own strong flavour.' -- Times Play 20030405 'A vividly atmospheric novel of tragedy, superstition, belief and hope.' -- Woman & Home 20030405

Beguiled by promises of wealth, fourteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her native Ceylon for Malaysia and marriage to a man many years her senior. But Ayah has lied to her and her family about his circumstances and in fact lives in poverty. A woman of formidable energy and intelligence, Lakshmi provides security, if not luxury, for her family, though at a considerable emotional cost. Then the Japanese army invades during WWII. On the eve of peace, her beloved eldest daughter is raped and killed by the occupying army. The family bears deep scars and inflicts those wounds on the next generation. But in Nisha, Lakshmi's great-granddaughter, it is as if Fate has come full circle and the novel ends on a note of reconciliation and hope.