Her decision changed history.

Now her family must survive it.

Destined to become a modern-day classic, The Storm We Made is a dazzling saga about the power of familial love in the face of the horrors of war, for fans of Pachinko and All the Light We Cannot See.

‘I’ll never forget this book‘ JESSAMINE CHAN

‘One of the most powerful debuts I’ve ever read. A storytelling star is born‘ TRACY CHEVALIER

‘A striking, moving exploration of good and evil, it is a novel that will stay with you’ CECILE PIN

‘Exceptionally brave, heart-breaking, beautiful, and moving. A significant contribution to world’s literature’ NGUYEN PHAN QUE MAI

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Japanese-occupied Malaya, 1945.

Cecily Alcantara’s children are in terrible danger.

Her eldest child Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.

Jasmin, the youngest, lives confined in a basement for her own safety.

And her son, Abel, has disappeared without a trace.

Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.

Brave and immensely moving, The Storm We Made is one of the most powerful and confident debuts I’ve ever read. A storytelling star is born

In Vanessa Chan’s spellbinding debut, one woman’s desire to change her destiny shapes the future of a colonised nation. Combining cinematic grandeur with nuanced storytelling, The Storm We Made offers the hidden history that only fiction can reveal: the everyday yearnings of people surviving a brutal occupation, children trying to make sense of the unspeakable, and the search for love. I’ll never forget this book.

Exceptionally brave, heart-breaking, beautiful, and moving. Destined to be a classic. The Storm We Made is a celebration of stories that have been silenced or erased. Vanessa Chan writes with admirable power, confidence and grace. By confronting the horror of colonisation and wars, this book opens the pathway to peace and healing. A significant contribution to world’s literature

The Storm We Made is an excellent examination of the way individuals get caught in the violence of history . . . a frank book that revels in moral complexity. Lovers of Eileen Chang will especially appreciate Vanessa Chan.

Devastatingly beautiful and extraordinary . . . Vanessa shines an evocative light on this piece of history. I’m going to be thinking about this one for a very long time

A striking, moving exploration of good and evil and the devastating repercussions one’s actions can have, it is a novel that will stay with you

There are so many rich layers to this book-my breath caught at the beauty of the words and the kaleidoscope of images they painted. Vanessa Chan has written a masterpiece, and The Storm We Made has not only changed my perspective on war and humanity; it has also transformed my sense of what truly great novels can do.

Like the most dazzling historical fiction, The Storm We Made etches intimate details on an epic canvas. Vanessa Chan’s characters face agonizing choices under the darkness of colonization and war, and yet she imbues them with an indelible spirit of resistance that never lets you forget the light. A fearless, gripping, morally complex story by a writer to watch.