My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

I was drawn to this one as it was a queer coming of age set in Malaysia, centring a family going through some serious shifts in their lives. My main gripe with it is that I genuinely felt like my edition was missing 100 pages off the start. We’re thrown in with these characters without a life raft, things are mentioned like we’re supposed to know it, characters do things with seemingly no reasoning, relationships are already formed and built within a few pages. It just felt lacking in development from the get go. By the end it was slightly better, but yeah, a bit weird!

The writing was lovely, Tash Aw paints a countryside scene vividly. I also appreciated the commentary about farmers losing their livelihoods because of demand from rich folks wanting tourist traps in the country.

Liked it, but not a love for me.

<i> “​​We feel as though our entire world changes when we get older, every object, every person, has been rearranged into some strange new configuration, but in fact nothing at all has changed.​" </i>

Tash Aw is a talented writer who can even make a dry sentence seem poetic. This is a book which is much more than the summary - a gay coming of age book - as it is deeply rooted in the Malaysian community. In fact, take away the romance and this book will still read the same.

Jay, with his parents Sui and Jack and his two elder sisters, visit their farm land inherited from his grandfather for a holiday from the bustling KL. The caretaker Fong and his son Chuan know their position in the society as Chinese Malaysians and treat the family with almost subservience. With no rains and no investments, the land is dry and the yield meagre.

The POV moves between Sui and Jay and even Fong. We get to know the complex family dynamics, things that are changing. One of the sisters is in a relationship with an orthodox Malaysian Muslim and the other has a strained bond with parents. In all this, effeminate Jay, falls in love with Chuan and the feeling is reciprocated.

There are not as many dramatic elements as the earlier Tash aw books. But that doesn't meant the book is devoid of drama. There were a lot of parallels with the Indian family. The entire family sitting together for the dinner transitions to people who barely tolerate each other - almost gradually. In this book, it happens over a holiday.

The parts describing the hard manual labour and the landscape are realistic and you could feel the sweat of the arid land. There are a couple of unexpected twists and some allusions that make the reader take notice.

This is a lyrical book written by an author who knows how to wield his pen.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC copy.

A beautifully crafted book about love, longing and family, The South follows sixteen-year-old Jay as he spends a summer at his family’s inherited farm in the Malaysian countryside. The land, once thriving, is now struggling under economic turmoil and the relentless effects of El Niño. While Jay’s father insists on restoring the farm, the family is slowly fracturing under the weight of unspoken resentments and personal regrets.

As Jay works the land, he forms an intense connection with Chuan, the son of the farm’s manager. Their bond, filled with quiet moments of self-discovery, desire and uncertainty, unfolds against a backdrop of drought, economic instability and the slow erosion of tradition. Meanwhile, Jay’s mother, Sui, and Fong, the farm’s long-time manager, reflect on their paths, offering a wider perspective on duty, sacrifice and the choices that shape a life.

Tash Aw’s writing is both intimate and expansive, blending the personal with the political. Told from Jay’s perspective as an adult, the book allows readers to see not only his coming-of-age but also the inner lives of those around him. The characters are layered and deeply human, navigating a world where change feels inevitable yet impossible to embrace.

With its rich prose, The South is a book that lingers long after the final page. It is a tender yet unflinching exploration of identity, love and the quiet forces that shape who we become.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Tash Aw’s novel, The South, offers a poignant exploration of family dynamics, personal growth, and societal challenges in 1997 rural Malaysia. The narrative centers on the Lim family, who, following the patriarch’s death, return to their ancestral farm—a once-thriving estate now succumbing to neglect and environmental adversities.

Aw’s prose is notably clear and economical, painting vivid scenes with concise language. For instance, he describes the oppressive heat enveloping the characters:

“In this light the land shimmers uncertainly before them. It hasn’t rained for months; the vegetation, usually heavy with moisture, has turned pale and brittle.”

However, some passages exhibit a degree of repetition, which, while possibly intentional to emphasize certain themes, can momentarily disrupt the narrative’s flow. For example, the protagonist reflects on a secluded spot near his school:

“This place offers respite, not just to me but to others like me.”

Shortly thereafter, a similar sentiment is echoed:

“This is a place that people escape to, in search of brief respite.”

The novel employs a non-linear structure, alternating between first-person and third-person perspectives, primarily through the eyes of 16-year-old Jay. While this approach provides multifaceted insights into the characters’ inner worlds, it occasionally renders the narrative somewhat disjointed. Despite this, Aw’s masterful depiction of the Malaysian landscape and the sense of place is wonderful.

As the inaugural instalment of a proposed quartet, The South lays a robust foundation for the Lim family’s saga.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

A stunning coming out of age novel where we follow Jay, a seventeen year old boy, who is coming to spend the summer at the family farmhouse his mother has just inherited, and Chuan, the nineteen year old boy who works the farm with his father. It is hot and dry, his father is moody as always, his previously rebellious mum is submissive and bored, his sisters are concerned. Tash Aw is very skilled at creating an atmosphere, oppressive, stifling, inserting references to climate change and sinophobia in Malaysia without sounding too obvious and preachy. There was a real tension in the novel and it was beautifully written.

Hmm, there's a gentle, almost elegiac and melancholy tone to this male coming of age story set in Malaysia but I found it disappointingly similar to many other adolescence stories, even with a queer love story at its heart.

I think this writing style doesn't work for me: it feels almost distanced with indirect speech and lots of telling. I don't need a plotty book but I do want some kind of direct engagement with the characters and here they felt distanced, as if I were viewing them from behind a curtain.

Without anything distinctive in either the narrative style or the story itself this ended up being quite bland for me - sadly forgettable and with nothing much to get a hold of, this sort of dissipated even as I was reading.

3.5⭐️
I haven’t read anything by Tash AW before so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy the writing but I really did enjoy it.

The south is the first in what is going to be a quartet of novels, which I was thankful to learn because I could read coming of age books forever and never get bored.

Set in Malaysia, the story follows Jay, a boy who travels south with his family. He is instantly drawn to Chuan the son of the farm manager. Each family member of Jays, confronts their own regrets and begin to drift apart.

I really enjoyed my time reading this story, I found myself sucked in by the atmosphere and where the story was heading.

I think this was beautiful, some quite sad topics discussed but all in all a hopeful coming of age story.

Tash Aw's "The South" is a gorgeous look at a family's struggle in rural Malaysia as the financial crisis hits Southeast Asia. The gay romance between Chuan and Jay serves as the emotional crux of the story, but we Chuan and Jay interact with their own families. We see how their family histories have fostered current resentments and estrangements.

Aw has a writer's eye for those unspoken moments where children do not speak to their parents even when they know more than their parents want them to know. Jay keeps so much of his inner life to himself, and he says nothing to his siblings or his parents. Sui (the mother) stays silent so as not to upset her husband Jack or her children. She's learned to get through life by never taking a firm position on anything. As a result, she says so much more by what she doesn't say.

Aw focuses on moments and those snippets of life that seem small at the time, but they remain touchstones in people's lives. Aw intersperses these moments with cultural callbacks like Madonna and Farewell, My Concubine to put us back in 1997 Malaysia. He evokes the financial crisis of the time, and how farms were devastated by the economic downturn.

For Jay, it's about love. It's about finding a connection to someone when life is uncertain. It's about exploring that desire he has for Chuan in a rural setting that is at best indifferent to such strong feelings. Emotionally realistic and powerful.

'The South' follows the relationship between two boys on the cusp of adulthood over the course of one summer set in Malaysia.

Just before he turns 17, Jay travels south with his family for the summer to visit land which his mother Sui has inherited from his paternal grandfather. The land has been tended for many years by Fong who lives on the land with his son Chuan, but they are finding it increasingly hard to make the land profitable from the fruit grows there, and much of the surrounding land is being bought up by foreign owners.

Jay and Chuan's relationship is at the heart of this novel. Chuan is outwardly more self-assured than Jay, but also faces his own challenges as he seeks to forge his own path in life away from the land where he has grown up. But Tash Aw's novel takes in the perspectives of including Jay's parents and older sisters and Chuan's father, using a mix of Jay's first-person narration and third person.

This is a quiet but beautifully observed novel which allows us to understand the history of the families at its heart through the lens of a single summer, and also to tell a wider story about people's relationship with the land - what it means to own land you rarely visit, or to live on land which you do not own and can be taken away from you at any moment. It is the first in a series of four novels and I am intrigued to see where they will go next. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Tash Aw’s The South is a quietly powerful coming-of-age novel set in rural Malaysia in 1997. The first in a planned quartet, it follows 16-year-old Jay as he navigates love, longing, and self-acceptance in a world where personal and societal expectations collide. Aw’s storytelling is layered, shifting between perspectives, timelines, and narrative styles, yet never losing its emotional core. The novel’s strength lies in its delicate exploration of the relationship between two boys—tender, uncertain, and deeply affecting. The Malaysian countryside serves as more than just a backdrop; it reflects the novel’s mood of quiet intimacy and restrained desire. The South is a poignant, beautifully written novel that lingers long after the final page.

Between a four and a five star because it's not usually the sort of writing style that I am drawn to, but something about it charms me completely, and I gladly consent to all of it - to everywhere it takes me. I love the settings, the characters, and their interactions. So much to love, but I think the prose style and structure was not what I like best? Nevertheless, I like and enjoy it for what it is, what a brilliant piece of writing. I savoured every page. Tash Aw is wonderful, would love to see and read more of his writing. Hoping for more to come.

Tash Aw begins a promised quartet of novels with this coming-of-age tale set in a rural part of southern Malaysia. Jay, a seventeen year old from the city, travels with his family to spend summer at their run-down farm, where he falls in love with his cousin, Chuan. The farm is clearly failing due to draught and lack of investment, despite the attempts of Chuan's father to keep it afloat. Meanwhile Jay's family are having their own interpersonal problems - his parents with their unhappy marriage, his father with problems at work, and his older sisters with the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood.

For saying that not a lot happens, it is very compelling and I felt absorbed from the beginning. It feels like a short book, although it's not particularly. Unlike many stories without chapters, which I usually find I read more slowly, I kept going and ended up reading in mainly two large sittings. Jay is a sympathetic character, as are most of the others, apart from Jay's cold, unkind father. It's not a particularly joyful or uplifting story, neither is it melodramatic or overly depressing. It feels very realistic and simply states things as they are. It strongly evokes of sense of place - I can see the farm and the other places described very clearly as I think back on the book.

The narrative passes between characters and between first and third person frequently, and often without anything to indicate the change. This always annoys me and it does here, even though overall it is a well written story. I just don't understand what's so hard about starting a new paragraph and putting a star in between to indicate a shift! Most of the time I could adjust easily enough but sometimes I was confused about which part sat with which narrative and whether we'd gone back in time or were still in the book's present. Anything like that 'breaks the spell' and takes you out of the story, which is a shame when it's such an immersive novel otherwise.

The overall mood is wistful and nostalgic. although it's too realistic and down-to-earth to be dreamy. I am interested to see what the sequels will cover in terms of characters and time period . It's a nicely written book, and I'd recommend it to people who enjoy literary fiction and particularly those who are interested in South-East Asia. It would be a great read if you are travelling in the region as it's really evocative.

A quite beautiful short novel (part of a planned quartet) about a Chinese Malay family who to the family farm / house for the summer, focused primarily on the 16 year old son and his growing attraction to the slightly older son of the farm manager. Little major happens, but there is real emotional development throughout, both from the perspective of Jay, the son, and of his mother and the attraction she felt for another man in her youth. Told in both first and third person, and occasionally as the narrator looking back, and forward, there is a real opportunity for a genuine connection despite the short length. I’m very much looking forward to the remainder of the quartet.

The South is a beautiful and immersive read. At its heart is the coming-of-age of Jay, the son of a middle-class Malaysian family who are spending their summer on the family farm. But it is also a brilliant portrait of a period, and a society in flux. The small world of the farm reflects the wider upheaval in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.

The South is the first in a planned quartet and I look forward to reading the next instalment.

Jay's family go south for the summer, following the death of his Grandfather, who has left a farm to his daughter in law , Jay's mother. 16 year old Jay also finds love for the first time.
The title of the book, the fact it was a "coming of age story" and one of the characters working in a 7-11 threw me a bit at start and whilst it soon became apparent that this was a story about a Chinese Malaysian family; this is a universal story of families and love. Whilst the headline of the novel is Jay finding his first love , it is subtly setting the scene for shining the light on the rest of family and the quartet of books to come. A slow moving book where everything happens but also nothing really does. I'm looking forward to reading the next installment of the Lim family Saga.

The English based, Taiwan-born Malaysian author Tash Aw has twice been longlisted for the Booker Prize – in 2005 for his debut “Harmony Silk Road” and 2013 for his third novel “Five Star Billionaire”.

This is his fifth novel (to be published later in 2025) and is billed as the “first in a quartet of novels that form Tash Aw’s masterful portrait of a family navigating a period of great change” (it is unclear if subsequent novels’ titles will be based on Cardinal Points as the title here is very appropriate to the novel).

The novel is set in Malaysia – opening I believe in December 2008 in the aftermath of the financial crisis – and that crisis and its rather catastrophic impact on the Malaysian economy sits very much in the background of the novel adding to the period of change that the family faces.

The family in question are:

Father Jack Lim (approaching sixty) – very much a patriarchal and private figure in his own family, but at work a mathematics teacher/lecturer at a “second rate technical college” who has been overlooked for promotion on a number of occasions despite his mathematical ability due it seems to his Chinese race.

His wife Sui Ching (15 years younger) – originally his student and never really accepted by Jack’s mother (now nearly eighty) as suitable for his son due to her country and relatively poor origins.

Oldest daughter Lina (20) – who against her father’s wishes has gone to art school at a public university and is increasingly independent from her family

Younger daughter Yin (18) – herself on the verge of college

And the son Jay (16) – rather at a loss as to his future – given he seems to lack ability and focus at school and the economy means a lack of both employment prospects and tuition fee funding from his parents

And the book opens shortly after the death of Jack’s 90 something father – much closer to Sui than Jack’s mother – as Sui decides the family will head South for the holidays, partly to give the newly mourning Grandmother some space but also to visit a piece of land long owned by Jack’s father (and in fact the first land be bought on settling in Malaysia) and which now belongs to Sui.

The farm, which the family have visited before, is run by the long term farm manager Fong (whose full relationship with the family only becomes clear over time), a small group of itinerant farm labours and his twenty year old son Chuan – but the lack of investment in the farm from Jack and his father, the poor soil and the economic background have made the farm close to unviable (despite various plans Fong devises) and Chuan spends much of his time working at a 7-11 in the nearest town.

We know from the novel’s opening that Jay and Chuan form a friendship which tentatively becomes a sexual relationship, but there are a myriad of other complex interactions playing out across the novel many of which emerge over time as family secrets: the complex interaction between Jack and Fong; Sui’s friendship with and care for Fong and her bitterness towards Jack; the two daughters breaking free in different ways from their parents; both Jack and Chuan believing they are distancing themselves from their fathers even as Sui observes that “Fathers and sons; they believe, furiously, that they are the opposite of each other, but they are in fact perfect reproductions”; Jack’s concerns for his future (as things at the school have gone much worse than the children realise); Fong’s worries over the future of the farm – and more.

And the narrative style keeps the book interesting – switching between point of view and between first and third person and sometimes with a narrator effectively observing themselves now and in the future which leads to some beautiful writing.

So all in all a lot to like in this novel – but even without knowing it was part of a quartet I think it would have felt rather incomplete, and given the relatively short length of the novel I am not really clear on the decision to not write more of the complete series before publishing it. Although the writing is excellent I don’t think the characters are hugely memorable and with limited plot development (much of it interior) then unless the intention is for the other volumes to follow in short order I suspect this may be a series best read once complete.