The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

What is it about?

As the sole survivor of a mass murder, Gwendolyn lies in a hospital bed, pondering what led her sister to commit such a heinous crime.

OK, but what is it really about?

Gwendolyn and Estella, two sisters born into the uberwealthy Chinese-Indonesian Sulinado family, have always been the closest of confidantes. But as the story begins, Gwendolyn finds herself lying in a hospital bed, comatose, racking her brain to find an answer to the gruesome question: Why did her sister, on the occasion of their grandfather’s birthday party, murder the whole family and their closest friends by poisoning the shark’s fin soup? As Gwendolyn dives deep into her past and recounts both her own and her family’s history, the reader is quickly drawn into a tangled web of lies and deceit, unraveling secrets long buried and, inch by inch, crawling towards an unsettling conclusion.

Is it any good?

This is not your typical whodunit, as the perpetrator is revealed in the very first sentence of the story. Yet, it doesn’t make “The Majesties” any less gripping. Instead of desperately wanting to find out “who did it”, one can’t help but feverishly looking for, almost demanding an explanation as to “why did she do it”. While this mystery lies at the very heart of the novel, Tiffany Tsao gives an arresting insight into the world of wealthy and powerful Chinese-Indonesians and lays bare the conflict and instability of a dysfunctional yet incredibly close-knit family that looks perfect on the outside but is boiling with untruths and deceit behind the glitzy facade. The author deftly weaves important aspects of Indonesian culture and history into the story and - almost en passant - introduces her readers to the bizarrely fascinating field of entomology until “The Majesties” reaches its unexpected, somewhat spine-chilling conclusion. This genre-transcending novel is bold and incredibly well written. Tiffany Tsao’s ability to tell a story that is so sinister at its core in a language so beautiful, sometimes downright poetic, is bewildering.

Favorite character?

“The Majesties” is told through Gwendolyn’s eyes, and just like the narrator, who aims to detach herself from her broken family, I found myself desperate to do the same, as even the most innocent-seeming characters are - at least to some extent - unlikable. Just like Gwendolyn and Estella, I clung to the to the idea of Tante Sandra as a beacon of light, as one last chance for redemption, only to have that illusion shattered in the most brutal way. And as it turns out, even sweet Oma, a steadfast constant in the protagonists’ childhood until her death, an old lady smelling of butter and warmth and kindness, was not free from deeds of darkness.

Most memorable quote?

“When your sister murders three hundred people, you can’t help but wonder why - especially if you were one of the intended victims - though I do forgive her, if you can believe it.”

What a first sentence!

Conclusion?

I started reading this book one fine morning in a bus on my way to the office. After the first chapter - it’s been a while since I have read a first chapter of a novel that was so thrilling and fascinating - I was already so deeply entangled in the story that I failed to notice I had missed my stop, something that had never happened to me before. This fact alone already speaks volumes. As someone who has lived in Indonesia for more than a decade, I found it strangely comforting to revisit the streets, restaurants and hotels of Jakarta, as there is a certain familiarity to it, but at the same it made me delve into a world I only knew very little about so far.

PS: I must mention the book cover, courtesy of Joseph Lee (cover painting) and James Iacobelli (cover design) - it’s nothing short of gorgeous, breathtaking, stunning and is simply a perfect fit for the story told in the book.

AT A GLANCE

Title: The Majesties

Author: Tiffany Tsao

Published by: Atria Books (2020)

Pages: 272

Language: English