Tash Wa was awarded both the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the best first novel

and the Whitbread First Novel Award.

ABOUT THE BOOK == The book is set in British-governed Malaysia in 1940, shortly before the Japanese invasion. In the first part a son tells the story of his father Johnny Lim, a two-timing cloth dealer and communist underground fighter who by dubious means worked his way out of the gutter and became the wealthiest man in the valley. His "harmony silk factory" was also used as the site of political resistance as well as a meeting place for smugglers and racketeers.

He married the beautiful Snow Soong, who died while giving birth to their son. In the second part of the novel Soong narrates, in journal entries, their trip to the "Seven Maiden Islands" and sheds an entirely different light on her husband, who - boyish and aloof - is tormented by horrible dreams. The third shift in perspective unfolds by means of a report by Johnny Lim's only friend, who portrays him in this last part in unexpected ways: this time as a cuckolded husband and loyal friend.

Aw's narration is full of atmospheric density, a fine sense of humor and a predilection for the extraordinary. "I've always loved things that are out of context: a contemporary painting in a maiden aunt's sitting room, a tin of shortbread biscuits in a Malaysian kitchen - little things that become more noticeable, less taken for granted, when moved out of their 'natural' environment.

MORE ABOUT == Tash Aw, whose full name is Aw Ta-Shi (born 4 October 1971) is a Malaysian writer currently living in London. Born in was born in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei in Taiwan in 1971, to Malaysian parents. When he was two years old his family moved back to their native land Malaysia. He grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was educated at a catholic school before moving to England in his teens with his family. He studied law at the University of Cambridge and at the University of Warwick and then moved to London to write. After graduating he worked at a number of jobs, including as a lawyer for four years whilst at the same time he was writing short stories and embarked on his first debut novel, which he completed in 2005 "The Harmony Silk Factory" during the creative writing course at the University of East Anglia..

Aw was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2005 and that same year was awarded both the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the best first novel and the Whitbread First Novel Award. His work has since been translated into twenty languages.

He works for the BBC on a regular basis, commenting on literature, film and culture in Southeast Asia. The author is currently working on his second novel, set in Malaysia and Indonesia in the sixties. He lives in London.

Works == His first novel, The Harmony Silk Factory, was published in 2005. After Malaysian journalists reported that he had been paid over £500,000 for the novel, The Star and The New Straits Times called him the "RM3.5 million man". The novel was longlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize and won the 2005 Whitbread Book Awards First Novel Award as well as the 2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Novel (Asia Pacific region). It also made it to the long-list of the world's prestigious 2007 International Impac Dublin Award and the Guardian First Book Prize. It has thus far been translated into seventeen languages. Aw cites his literary influences as Joseph Conrad, Vladimir Nabokov, Anthony Burgess, William Faulkner and Gustav Flaubert. His second novel, titled Map of the Invisible World, is due for release in April 2009.

Based on royalties as well as prizes, Aw is the most successful Malaysian writer of recent years. Following the announcement of the Booker longlist, the Whitbread Award and his Commonwealth Writers' Prize award, he became a celebrity in Malaysia and Singapore, and is now one of the most respected literary figures in Southeast Asia.

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