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A review by nini23
The Ash House by Audrey Chin
3.0
Disclosure: I received a complimentary pdf copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Content warnings: Possession by ghost/spirit, sexual predation by employer, domestic worker abuse, elderly neglect, ableist language
The Ash House, slated for release in August 2021 by Penguin Random House SEA, is written by Audrey Chin. Ms Chin is an established Singaporean author of Peranakan Vietnamese heritage, this is my first encounter with her work. Described as an 'Asian Gothic' story, the book opens with a Roman Catholic nun, Sister Mary Michael Chan, being assigned by her local bishop to investigate the house of a prominent merchant family for malignant paranormal influences. The young master of the house, Arno Tjoa Jia Hao, has been behaving in an extremely strange manner with his collection of Barbie dolls, each draped in his designer Peranakan costumes and corresponding to the female relatives and maid in the house. Yes, it's as creepy as it sounds.
The story is set in a contemporary setting in Kota Chahaya, malay for City of Light, a 21st century affluent port city in South-east Asia. As the investigation proceeds and pieces of the sordid tale emerges, we are privy to the history of three generations of the Tjoa family as well that of Bing Fa, a pipa player courtesan from Guangzhou, and Girl, an unnamed domestic worker from what sounds like Indonesia, who works in the Tjoa household and had a suspicious debilitating 'accident.' What struck me as each voice in this atmospheric house tells their story and viewpoint is that there's no central protagonist, everyone gets equal billing. Each character is encased in their role, sure of their contribution and control over cause and effect in the events, yet each story unfurls yet another layer of complexity, revising our understanding. Two of the characters are deliberately not named, Girl and Cook, 'the help' of the house.
One of the underlying themes of the book is the lust for young women's bodies by men in positions of power and the crushing inexorable effect of that on their fates. The business family holdings founder Tjoa Ek Kia who traps Bing Fa in a ghost marriage, his gambling son drunk on alcohol and carnal pleasures and finally grandson Arno a fixated obsession with marrying doll Girl by proxy. This has a domino effect on the tapestry of events eg the other wives of elder Tjoa plot to deal with Bing Fa's usurpation of favour in the household in the style of Raise The Red Lantern. Listening to the old Shanghainese song 秋水伊人 which plays an important part of the story definitely added to the nostalgic seductive melancholic ambience.
There's a few areas in the book that discomfited me: 1) How Gran was depicted, albeit in the eyes of Girl - basically "sick, slop, shit" in detail. This elderly person was reduced by language repeatedly to crude biological functions, this may be harmful considering our rapidly aging society, the intimation of them being an enormous burden and robbing them of dignity and humanity. 2) Girl's seduction of Arno, under Bing Fa's tutelage. One of the common often unfounded fears of employers is that the female migrant maid will use her feminine wiles on the husband or males of the house, I've heard some will request "ugly, old" maids to guard against that. So having Girl fulfill this suspected action in this fictional story may fuel this paranoia. 3) Arno described as "maimed baby", "stuttering", cripple, variations of fat. 4) The contemptuous sneering by Girl and Cook privately of 'the Cinos.' All this is not to be conflated with the author's views, she is giving voice to traditionally disempowered women and donating proceeds of the book to HOME (the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics), a non-profit that supports abused domestic workers. Highlighting the plight of migrant workers who have suffered horrendous abuse is a worthy cause.
Lastly, I would have liked more fleshing out of Girl's background. What are the specific ghost supernatural Indonesian stories or folklore she grew up with? What's the Malay name of her childhood lover Buffalo Boy and why are they so attached? What were her favourite childhood comfort foods? (There was a mention of an Indonesian oxtail soup by her mother). Why does she like that kdrama You Who Came From The Stars (and when did she have time in her exhaustive schedule to watch it)? And this last little niggling curiosity, did Arno talak x 3 her according to tradition?
Many thanks to the author for giving me the opportunity to read this unique work.
Content warnings: Possession by ghost/spirit, sexual predation by employer, domestic worker abuse, elderly neglect, ableist language
The Ash House, slated for release in August 2021 by Penguin Random House SEA, is written by Audrey Chin. Ms Chin is an established Singaporean author of Peranakan Vietnamese heritage, this is my first encounter with her work. Described as an 'Asian Gothic' story, the book opens with a Roman Catholic nun, Sister Mary Michael Chan, being assigned by her local bishop to investigate the house of a prominent merchant family for malignant paranormal influences. The young master of the house, Arno Tjoa Jia Hao, has been behaving in an extremely strange manner with his collection of Barbie dolls, each draped in his designer Peranakan costumes and corresponding to the female relatives and maid in the house. Yes, it's as creepy as it sounds.
The story is set in a contemporary setting in Kota Chahaya, malay for City of Light, a 21st century affluent port city in South-east Asia. As the investigation proceeds and pieces of the sordid tale emerges, we are privy to the history of three generations of the Tjoa family as well that of Bing Fa, a pipa player courtesan from Guangzhou, and Girl, an unnamed domestic worker from what sounds like Indonesia, who works in the Tjoa household and had a suspicious debilitating 'accident.' What struck me as each voice in this atmospheric house tells their story and viewpoint is that there's no central protagonist, everyone gets equal billing. Each character is encased in their role, sure of their contribution and control over cause and effect in the events, yet each story unfurls yet another layer of complexity, revising our understanding. Two of the characters are deliberately not named, Girl and Cook, 'the help' of the house.
One of the underlying themes of the book is the lust for young women's bodies by men in positions of power and the crushing inexorable effect of that on their fates. The business family holdings founder Tjoa Ek Kia who traps Bing Fa in a ghost marriage, his gambling son drunk on alcohol and carnal pleasures and finally grandson Arno a fixated obsession with marrying doll Girl by proxy. This has a domino effect on the tapestry of events eg the other wives of elder Tjoa plot to deal with Bing Fa's usurpation of favour in the household in the style of Raise The Red Lantern. Listening to the old Shanghainese song 秋水伊人 which plays an important part of the story definitely added to the nostalgic seductive melancholic ambience.
There's a few areas in the book that discomfited me: 1) How Gran was depicted, albeit in the eyes of Girl - basically "sick, slop, shit" in detail. This elderly person was reduced by language repeatedly to crude biological functions, this may be harmful considering our rapidly aging society, the intimation of them being an enormous burden and robbing them of dignity and humanity. 2) Girl's seduction of Arno, under Bing Fa's tutelage. One of the common often unfounded fears of employers is that the female migrant maid will use her feminine wiles on the husband or males of the house, I've heard some will request "ugly, old" maids to guard against that. So having Girl fulfill this suspected action in this fictional story may fuel this paranoia. 3) Arno described as "maimed baby", "stuttering", cripple, variations of fat. 4) The contemptuous sneering by Girl and Cook privately of 'the Cinos.' All this is not to be conflated with the author's views, she is giving voice to traditionally disempowered women and donating proceeds of the book to HOME (the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics), a non-profit that supports abused domestic workers. Highlighting the plight of migrant workers who have suffered horrendous abuse is a worthy cause.
Lastly, I would have liked more fleshing out of Girl's background. What are the specific ghost supernatural Indonesian stories or folklore she grew up with? What's the Malay name of her childhood lover Buffalo Boy and why are they so attached? What were her favourite childhood comfort foods? (There was a mention of an Indonesian oxtail soup by her mother). Why does she like that kdrama You Who Came From The Stars (and when did she have time in her exhaustive schedule to watch it)? And this last little niggling curiosity, did Arno talak x 3 her according to tradition?
Many thanks to the author for giving me the opportunity to read this unique work.