The Rice Mother

 by Rani Manicka

468pp, Sceptre, £14.99

Every now and again, in this abitio!s and overco"o!red nove", a oent o# peace

descends. $he screeching #an#ares o# "ove and war are si"enced and there is soe ordinary

detai", soe %!iet observation. $here is a "itt"e gir" sitting by her other&s "egs and

watching her sewing' () !sed to rest y chin on the sooth eta" s!r#ace o# the sewing

achine and worry that it ight accidenta""y eat Mother&s #ingers.( $here is a devoted

#ather pee"ing bananas #or his chi"dren' (*"" the stringy ye""ow strands that co!"d be

 p!""ed away #ro the inside skin he p!t into his o!th.( $here is a woan on the day o#

her other&s death reebering the hairpins the o"d woan !sed' (+ee *a ins. -o one

wore those any ore. $hey were "ike hair c"ips, b!t instead o# staying c"ose together, they

were shaped. ) sha"" a"ways reeber today, taking a"" those pins o!t o# her hair #or

the "ast tie.(

)n those detai"s soe person or event is rea"ised and "ives in yo!r ind&s eye. /!t those

oents are rare. Rani Manicka "ikes to race thro!gh "i#e at co"ossa" speed. She starts the

race with the ta"e o# a Sri 0ankan gir", 0akshi, who goes to Ma"aysia to get arried, has

si chi"dren and s!rvives the horrors o# the 2apanese invasion3 then she canters thro!gh

the stories o# a"" 0akshi&s chi"dren be#ore ga""oping into the tragic ta"e o# her

grandda!ghter&s "i#e and skidding to a c"ose with the appearance o# her great

grandda!ghter. -one o# Manicka&s characters has an !nevent#!" "i#e3 shocks and reversa"s,

 betraya"s and reve"ations "itter a"ost every page o# this #at nove".

$he beginning o# the saga ho"ds yo!r interest, since 0akshi&s yo!th is capt!red with

eno!gh poignancy to spark into "i#e. /e#ore she reaches p!berty 0akshi r!ns wi"d, b!t

as soon as she begins to enstr!ate she is sh!t !p #or two weeks in a sa"" roo with the

windows nai"ed sh!t and #orced to eat raw eggs. $hen she is dressed !p, decorated with

roses and 5ewe"s, and "a!nched on to the arriage arket. )t hard"y s!rprises !s, since we

have et sii"ar scenes in so any nove"s, that the #irst tie she sees her h!sband is at

her wedding, and he t!rns o!t to be o"d and !g"y. *nd yet there is soething to!ching

abo!t the "itt"e gir" who draws herse"# !p brave"y to eet his gae and pretends to her

other that things are grand.

*s soon as the wedding is over everything begins to go downhi"". -ot on"y is 0akshi&s

h!sband o"d and !g"y, he is a"so poor and weak3 not on"y is Manicka&s prose overwro!ght,

it is a"so "ay and repetitive. 0akshi, her chi"dren, grandchi"dren and great

grandchi"dren have etraordinary stories to te"", b!t with this "ang!age as their edi!

they str!gg"e to coe a"ive. () sho!"d te"" yo! straightaway how incredib"y specia" she

was,( is 0akshi&s breath"ess aside when her #irst da!ghter is born. (7orgeo!s, c"ever,

 

 precio!s and indisp!tab"y y #avo!rite,( she says o# her #irst son, and (She was a good,

good baby with enoro!s, shining eyes,( o# her second da!ghter.

* horror o# !nderstateent is the ha""ark o# Manicka&s sty"e. * an cannot be nice, he

has to be (the nicest person that ever wa"ked the earth(3 a woan cannot be good

"ooking, she has to be (a gorgeo!s eraid with "!ino!s eyes(. ro tie to tie

Manicka skids into agic to !nderscore the wonder o# the wor"d that she is creating.

Magic rea"is is a #ine device when the agica" is as concrete as the rea", b!t in

Manicka&s wor"d the #"ights o# enchantent, the predictions, the spe""s, the ghosts, on"y

add to the pervading sense o# weight"essness.

$his weight"essness is strange, given that Manicka&s s!b5ects are o#ten !ncoproising"y

harsh. overty, dr!nkenness, dr!gtaking and prostit!tion are given as !ch space as

war #ai"y "i#e. Manicka a"so dips reg!"ar"y into g!twrenching horror. She describes in

detai", #or instance, the reg!"ar rapes o# the aid who "ives net door to 0akshi, and the

eperiences o# 0akshi&s h!sband when he is tort!red by the occ!pying 2apanese and "e#t

#or dead in a ass grave.

ro tie to tie, the 5agged edge o# s!ch episodes proises to c!t thro!gh Manicka&s

s!gary sty"e. hen 0akshi&s da!ghter is a"so capt!red by the 2apanese, Manicka oves

swi#t"y #ro the scene o# ordinary #ai"y "i#e, with the water spitting in the #rying

spinach and the chi"dren po!nding #"o!r, to the oent o# horror as the so"diers b!rst

into the ho!se and drag the gir" away. (She treb"ed inside y grasp "ike a sa"" dying

ynah bird,( says 0akshi as her da!ghter is dragged #ro her. /!t once the da!ghter is

gone Manicka %!ick"y ret!rns to sentienta"ity, in scenes where the dead da!ghter&s

ghost revisits the ho!se or the grieving parents weep over her o"d dresses.

$his sentienta"ity sees to stand in the way o# any stren!o!s engageent with the

rea"ities o# the past. :espite her abitio!s content, Manicka never b!rrows deep eno!gh

into her characters, or #ar eno!gh into the socia" cop"eity o# the ties, to create

anything that wo!"d be as weighty as her thees deand. /y the end o# the book it is

hard not to #ee" that yo! have watched a parade that is certain"y rather gorgeo!s, to !se

one o# Manicka&s #avo!rite words, b!t a"so rather sketchy and rather #orgettab"e.

· -atasha a"ter is the a!thor o# $he -ew einis ;<irago=.

 

Unlike fellow former British colonies India and Pakistan, Malaysia has yet to produce a

 Vikram Seth or an Arundhati Roy. here has !een no writer of international stature, or e"en

a literary canon�in Bahasa or #n$lish�that one could call Malaysian. The Rice Mother, a

delicious fictional cocktail packed with Malaysian fla"ors, may finally put the country on the

$lo!al pu!lishin$ map. Plainly, de!ut no"elist Rani Manicka has studied other Asia%themed

 !est sellers such as Wild Swans and The Joy Luck Club to produce a family sa$a centered on

the tempestuous relationships !etween mothers and their children. &er central female

character under$oes horri!le sufferin$ !ut triumphs in such a way that professors will

undou!tedly !e includin$ Rice Mother on the readin$ list for 'ender #mpowerment ()(. But

 Rice Mother is more than a saron$ sa$a. Its characters are ori$inal, its can"as !road, and

Manicka*s radiant prose !rin$s out all the dark lushness of her ultimately tra$ic tale.

Manicka*s Malaysia is an e+otically ma$ical land, where $hosts and $ods walk to$ether hand

in hand.

he no"el !e$ins in pre%orld ar II -eylon, when the (%year%old /akshmi lea"es her

family and mo"es to rural 0uantan with her new hus!and, Ayah. /akshmi !ears si+ children,

and the narrati"e "oice soon 1umps from /akshmi to her children, who paint a di"er$ent and

comple+ portrait of their mother. 2au$hter Anna recounts how /akshmi stood up to the

3apanese in"aders, started a !usiness and hid her earnin$s, coated with !ird droppin$s, at

the top of a palm tree. 4he 3apanese made us all "ery resourceful,4 she relates, 4!ut Mother

 was an undefeata!le force.4 Se"enese, /akshmi*s son, sees a "ery different character. 4I look

at my mother with horrified fascination,4 he solilo5ui6es. 4Material am!ition is the

compulsion that dri"es her. Is it possi!le, I think to myself, that she does not know how u$ly

a !east she clasps so close to her !reast74 After the 3apanese rape and murder one of the

dau$hters, the family starts to drift apart. /akshmi $rows into a formida!le matriarch,

towerin$ o"er her scattered, resentful clan, e"entually !ecomin$ the rice mother of the title8

4he 'i"er of /ife� In Bali her spirit li"es in effi$ies made out of shea"es of rice � She is

 

the keeper of dreams. /ook carefully and you will see, she sits on her wooden throne holdin$

all our hopes and dreams in her stron$ hands.4

The Rice Mother is at its most poi$nant when /akshmi loses power o"er her !rood. &er

$randdau$hter 2imple marries /uke, a rich 3apanese%-hinese !usinessman in 0uala

/umpur. heir romance starts off passionately, !ut /uke*s eye wanders and their union turns

into a frosty farce. /uke pays a waiter to sleep with his wife and 2imple complies, hopin$ the

assi$nation will lead to di"orce. o her horror she finds she has stepped into her hus!and*s

new kinky o!session. /uke and 2imple*s twisted relationship pro"ides startlin$ scenes that

sa"e the no"el from readin$ like it*s !een cooked up from a !est%seller recipe !ook. Some

mi$ht feel uncomforta!le with the way U.0.%!ased Manicka has e+otici6ed Malaysia to woo

 estern readers, !ut if you ha"e no han$%ups, you*ll find The Rice Mother a !eautiful read.