Fragile Monsters

I enjoyed learning more about Malaysia's history and culture. The story and unreliable narrators was interesting and it was super to travel to somewhere hot and humid.
The narrator was excellent.

There is a real lyrical quality to Menon's writing, and the pace and confusion of the narrative took me back to my visit to Malaysia. There are some very strong female characters in the novel, and there is a depth to their personalities. I loved the multiple tellings of Durga, Francesca and Mary's stories, the feel of uncertainty and lasting consequences. I'd certainly be interested in reading more books by Catherine Menon in the future, and congratulate her on this debut novel.
Indira Varma is a great choice of narrator for this audiobook and her voice is warm and friendly, skilfully switching her tone for the different characters in the novel.

“Perhaps that’s what I’ve come back to learn; the ghosts in Malaysia are for good. They’re fragile monsters, these nothings of ours” - ‘Fragile Monsters.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for an unabridged review copy via NetGalley of ‘Fragile Monsters’ by Catherine Menon. It is narrated by Indira Varma and has a running time of 9 hours, 22 minutes at 1x speed.

Set in Malaysia Catherine Menon’s debut novel follows one Indian Malaysian family's story from the 1920s through to the novel’s present day. The main focus is the fractious relationship between Durga and her grandmother Mary. Events unfold in the two time periods, the present of 1985 with Durga as first person narrator and in 1922 onward following Mary’s story.

Durga is a mathematics lecturer, who for the past ten years has been away in Canada. She returns home to rural Pahang to spend Diwali with Mary. As a result they are forced to untangle the mysteries of the past. “Stories twist through the past like hair in a plait,” Durga says.”
 
In January I read an advance copy of this novel and while I found it beautifully written, especially in terms of its descriptions of Malaysia, I failed to feel much connection to the story or characters.

However, when its unabridged audiobook became available to review I thought that given my love of audiobooks that it might prove more accessible.

Indeed this proved so, especially as the narrator, Indira Varma, is an actor whose work I have admired for years. Her voice is exquisite, very rich and melodious. She also utilises her skill with accents to great effect with the novel’s supporting characters.

As a result, I found myself much more engaged in the narrative and now consider it a 3.5 star read that I have rounded up to 4.

This book is very different from my normal choice but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The different timelines intertwining made the story interesting and rich with detail. Knowing very little about the culture and history of Malaysia I found myself really interested in the country and it’s traditions mentioned in this book. The narration was spectacular, perfectly fitting for the story being told