"This book is the story of Johnny Lim, textile merchant, petty crook and inventor of the Amazing Toddy Machine, and his marriage to the beautiful Snow Soong. In 1940, with the Japanese about to invade Malaysia, Johnny and Snow embark on their honeymoon to the mysterious Seven Maiden Islands, accompanied by a mercurial Japanese professor and Peter Wormwood, an Englishman adrift. Many years later, Wormwood looks back on this defining journey, while Snow's son goes in search of the truth of his mother and the infamous Chinese man she married."

Bought this at a clearance sale for the geographical challenge.

The book was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Whitbread Book Awards for First Novel Award.

Reserved for Tarna's Trophy Cabinet.

This was quite a compelling read. I liked the way the three sections and three narrators show the characters from completely different viewpoints: it's like the Johnny we meet in the first section is an altogether different character from the Johnny in the second and yet again in the third section. Makes you think about what is true and accurate, what is subjective and what objective about one's memories, how one's own experiences affect the way they remember things and people from the past… Recommended reading!

Thank you Annimanni for the book! It seems interesting.

Reserved for Tarna's Trophy Cabinet.

Finally finished this. Beautifully written story keeps you reading. But I didn't like the last, third part of the book, it took me ages to read.

Throughout reading this book I compared it to "Pao" (by Kerry Young) http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12801255/ I read in the beginning of this year. Both books were in Tarna's Trophy Cabinet and well-written stories. And in both books there were great men doing horrid things... Otherwise these two books were different - and I liked the "Pao" a lot more than this one.

Tarna chose this book from the Cabinet - and I think I have a courier tomorrow towards Tampere :)

Mikäli lii5a:lle mahtuu mukaan, niin tämä lähtee kuriirikyytinä Tarnalle.

This book has been in Palkintokaappi (Trophy cabinet, Finnish forum VBB of award winners / nominees) twice, and I had my eye on it already during the first round. And now I've got it! Thank you, TiiMa! Thanks also to lii5a and Pamina for carrying this book to me.