The Great Reclamation

A Novel

By: Rachel Heng

Narrated by: Windson Liong

Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

WINNER OF THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD

LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE AND THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME, TOWN & COUNTRY, KIRKUS, ELECTRIC LITERATURE AND BOOKPAGE!

"Stunning…epic…impressive…It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters.”—The New York Times

"A deep and powerful love story."—NBC The Today Show

"A beautifully written novel. I loved so much in this book: the richly imagined setting, the complicated love story, and the heartbreaking way history can tear apart a family."—Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy’s unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country

Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility—something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love.

By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up.

An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people’s feet.

©2023 Rachel Heng (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Epic for the reasons life itself is epic. The Great Reclamation asks the reader to confront the big things, like love and identity and loss, but it allows us to revel in the little things, too, from the buttery taste of steamed fish to the smooth surface of a rubber seed. It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters.”—The New York Times

“[The Great Reclamation] illustrates the unsteadiness of both the physical environment and personal and political allegiances during a time of overwhelming historical change.”—The New Yorker

“A love story about both heart and home.”—Time

An exceptional piece of historical fiction.

The tension between the two major characters is finely wrought against the backdrop of the creation story of modern Singapore. Woven throughout is a cautionary tale of the unintended effects of climate change.

Interesting historical fiction

Difficult at times to understand narrator. Also had to look up many non-English words to understand story.

Great historical fiction

I’m glad I got past the difficult narration. In the end, I understood why the narrator used a thick accent. It took a bit of understanding and getting used to. But it offered added authenticity.
I had read about the journey ti where Singapore is now. And I have always been a fan of how they have evolved to be a powerhouse among giants. There is a balance to individual rights and the common good they seem to have mastered. Other countries should follow this example, the US in particular, so that a society can still live sanely and safely.
I was waiting for one of the main characters to finally wake up and get beyond the childish magical thinking. Relieved this finally came. Otherwise, I would have discounted that part of the story as nothing but cheap drugstore paperback manufactured longing.

A worthy listen.

Fantastic historic fiction, and a change of pace

I almost skipped this book because of a knee-jerk reaction to the phrase "WWII" in the description. There are about ten thousand novels about London/Europe during WWII, pretty much covering every single day of the war from every potential angle. It's exhausting. But this was something completely different. A whole new perspective on a war that's been exhaustively covered, from the point of view of characters you truly care about by the time the war rolls in.

Speaker

I loved how the speaker had a fitting, solid accent for the book, it helped to make it come to life, and he paused in all the right spots to build drama.

Refreshingly different story

I enjoyed this story, the way it was told and the narrator’s voice. This Audible book really allowed me to escape, not just from my reality, but from all the previous books I’ve read or listened to with predictable endings.

Interesting insight to changes in the Asian part of the world

A most probable glimpse of the changes that took place in that part of the world told around the life and family of a young person.

Great story, well written, good listen

Powerful characters. A story about a part of the world very foreign to me and events totally unfamiliar.

Truly Distressing

We start with a child's magical memories of family life in a primitive fishing village. The child grows up to be a monster who betrays family and friends instead of helping them adjust to the changing world. I don't understand why this is being lauded as a compelling coming of age story. On top of the difficult story the narrator (who is perfectly capable of communicating clearly based on other books narrated) adopted a strange slurred accent that was very difficult to follow. I wouldn't have stuck with the book if it hadn't been about such an interesting historical time and place.