Map of the Invisible World

Map of the Invisible World
Tash Aw

From the author of the internationally acclaimed, Whitbread Award-winning ‘The Harmony Silk Factory’ comes an enthralling new novel that evokes an exotic yet turbulent and often frightening world.Sixteen-year-old Adam is an orphan three times over. He and his older brother, Johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; he watched as Johan was adopted and taken away by a wealthy couple; and he had to hide when Karl, the Dutch man who raised him, was arrested by soldiers during Sukarno’s drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of its colonial past.Adam sets out on a quest to find Karl, but all he has to guide him are some old photos and letters, which send him to the colourful, dangerous capital, Jakarta. Johan, meanwhile, is living a seemingly carefree, privileged life in Malaysia, but is careening out of control, unable to forget the long-ago betrayal of his helpless, trusting brother.‘Map of the Invisible World’ is a masterful novel, and confirms Tash Aw as one of the most exciting young writers at work today.

TASH AW

Map of the Invisible World

Dedication (#u918c28af-d421-5001-84ea-bd20729d64b5)

For my sisters LL and SL

Epigraph (#u918c28af-d421-5001-84ea-bd20729d64b5)

Did I not once upon a time have a lovable childhood, heroic and fabulous, to be written on leaves of gold, an excess of good fortune?

RIMBAUD, Matin

His voice lasted just a few moments. A fleeting tremor, never to be repeated.

PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER, ‘Yang Sudah Hilang’

‘My dreams are like other people’s waking hours…My memory, sir, is like a garbage heap.’

BORGES, ‘Funes, His Memory’

Contents

Title Page (#u98995e61-cc05-50a6-a764-3b83132d7ff3)

Dedication

Epigraph (#uce9bb5db-998a-5b15-adb8-eed147c09ecc)

Chapter 1 (#u214bae37-4df7-5575-a4c7-0d8ee346bf79)

Chapter 2 (#uffb20219-04ce-5843-8eab-3d14f4b08602)

Chapter 3 (#u6ac26899-57e3-5284-9477-a317115799c4)

Chapter 4 (#u59b06391-bc88-5f7f-aa1e-d97609e74954)

Chapter 5 (#ude013bd2-5882-5cf6-ad56-4ef2cfdd17e5)

Chapter 6 (#uf0a7ce36-a15c-5597-9f6f-f9efab0bf851)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 26 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 27 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 28 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 29 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 30 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 31 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 32 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 33 (#litres_trial_promo)