Island in the East

This is a dual period novel set in Singapore in the late 1890s and during World War II.

Identical twins Mae and Harriet Grafton arrive from Simla, India, in 1897, the subject of much gossip and innuendo among the Colonial establishment as to their parentage. The girls are largely at the mercy of one man, David Keeley, who will inherit a fortune from their guardian if and when he marries one of them.

David sets his sights on Harriet rather than Mae and tells the twins that nothing will stand in his way to get who and what he wants. Meanwhile, both Harriet and Mae fall in love with the trader, Alex Blake, and it is this, combined with the machinations of David, that will drive the twins apart.

In 1941, Ivy Harcourt, an expert in languages and radio "listener" is undergoing counselling following a traumatic experience during the London Blitz. Her grandmother is Mae. Ivy is also grieving over the loss of her love, Felix, and hopes that the transfer to a new position in the Far East listening to Japanese radio communications may restore her mental well-being. To her surprise, it seems various people in Singapore, including the elderly Alex, knew her grandmother, but all are reluctant to explain the connection. In spite of the very real possibility of Japan taking Singapore, Ivy falls in love with Australian soldier, Kit. 

This is an absorbing novel that has its twists and turns, not all of them plausible, and one can guess at the outset with identical twins there's bound to be some sort of identity switch between Mae and Harriet. A plot by the contemptible David borders on the outlandish, but it is the hinge on which everything turns. Ivy's past trauma will be compounded by what happens to her after Singapore falls to the Japanese and this part of the novel might be difficult for some readers, although it is probably less graphic than the reality of life in Changi and other prisoner of war camps.

The historical research is thorough, but there are issues with the style of narrative that includes unwieldly sentences and the unnecessary over-use of brackets to the point of distracting the reader. Strangely enough, these faults seem to dominate the first one-third or so of the book before improving considerably later. This suggests that maybe different editors had a hand in the final proof. Points of view are also ragged, with me having to re-read several passages to sort out which twin was the subject. Again, an editing issue. These construction quibbles aside, I remained involved in what is one of my favourite genres, i.e. epic stories of Empire, war and romance, and I plan to try other books by this author.

Three-and-a-half stars.

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

​Booktopia

---