By Tan Twan Eng, this book was one of the best I have read this year. It encompasses World War II and takes place in Malaya. The main character, Philip Hutton, is half English, half Chinese. His family has been in Malaya since his grandfather began mining and shipping businesses and his family is well respected and liked. His father remarried his Chinese mother after his first wife’s death and Philip has never felt completely of the family. He has two older brothers and a sister. He stays behind when his family visits England and is befriended by a Japanese diplomat who mentors him in Japanese art and culture and the discipline of aikido. This comes at a terrible price when the Japanese take over Malaya and Philip realizes Endo, his mentor, is a spy. He can aid the Japanese and save his family. Or try to outwit the Japanese and save as many countrymen as possible. As the reader my sympathies went back and forth numerous times. It is a morally fascinating book.
