Vanessa Chan The Storm We Made

小说以二战时期的马来亚为背景，讲述了主角Cecily一家在英国和日本相继占领下的生活变迁。Cecily是一位有三个孩子的母亲，她在英国占领时期与伪装成英国人的日本军官Fujiwara相遇并产生感情。Fujiwara为她描绘了日军占领后的美好未来，Cecily因此决定帮助他从自己工程师的丈夫那里偷取情报。然而，日军占领后，情况远比Fujiwara所描述的残酷，Cecily也逐渐意识到自己被欺骗。

Vanessa Chan在人物塑造上展现出了深厚的功底。Cecily是一个复杂而多面的角色，她的行为既有出于对家庭的爱护，也有对未来的憧憬和迷茫。她的三个孩子也各有特点，大儿子Abel在集中营中的经历让他变得沉默寡言，二女儿Jujube则承担起了照顾家庭的重任，小女儿Jasmin则因天真无邪而卷入了更大的危险之中。

《The Storm We Made》是一部充满力量和感动的小说。Vanessa Chan用一种很口语化、很接地气的方式来讲述这个故事，让我感觉就像是在听一个老朋友在讲述她家的往事。她对人物心理的描写也特别细腻，我能感受到Cecily内心的挣扎和痛苦，也能理解她为什么会做出那些决定。

这本书让我深刻体会到了战争对普通家庭的摧残。它不仅仅是一部历史小说，更是一部关于人性、家庭、爱和背叛的深刻探讨。读完之后，我久久不能平静，一直在想如果我是Cecily，我会怎么做呢？

书名：The Storm We Made

作者：Vanessa Chan

简介：A novel about a Malayan mother who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII—and the shocking consequences that rain upon her community and family.

Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.

Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.

A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.