Cirrus@Austlit

'KATIE CHEN, 16, lives in the unremarkable suburb of Narre Warren in Australia with her somewhat reclusive Malaysian father. Coming to Australia when she was 5 and losing her mother at 7, she has always struggled with issues of identity.

'One day, she goes back to Malaysia for her grandmother’s funeral and discovers that her mother – long-thought-dead – is alive. Set in a fictionalised Kuala Lumpur (KL), Katie struggles to reconnect with her mother whom she discovers is Malay.

'Navigating KL’s underground music scene and the underlying tensions of a country she doesn’t understand, how far is Katie willing to go to find a place to belong?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Lake Malibuand other stories is a collection of short stories about various people from a small Malaysian town connected by a theme of escapism. Through the interlinked stories, we get to know the residents of Ipoh who struggle with various entanglements such as filial obligations, societal pressure, and increasing exposure to Western influences.

'In Lake Malibu, two young boys dream of greener pastures in a Western country. In Mrs Fernandez, a teenage boy falls in love with his best friend's mother. In Margaret, an elderly lady re-evaluates her relationship with her son who has settled down in Australia. The anthology is tied up by a final story - Camellias - which is about a Malaysian woman who has moved to Melbourne with her family.' (Publication summary)