The Storm We Made: A Novel

In a time when women were largely expected to fulfill domestic roles, bearing children and looking after the household while men shaped society as workers and leaders, Cecily Alcantara yearns to make an impact on Malaya, subverting the limitations of the prevailing social structure to free her state from British control. In some senses, she transcends her gender-defined roles through a sense of purpose and solidarity with those who share her political views, namely Takahashi and later, Lina.

Cecily bristles at her role as a housewife, developing violent fantasies that upend the normalized domesticity of her home. Her anger, however, is not aimed at her family members per se, but at the expectation that despite her colonial education, her only purpose in life is to manage her household and support her husband Gordon’s professional growth. All around her, there is little respite from these tasks. At dinner parties, she is forced to join the women while the men break out into groups to discuss administrative business. Her husband likewise tells her whom she should befriend and whom she should avoid to position him favorably in his superiors’ eyes. It is difficult for Cecily to think that any alternative exists until she meets Fujiwara. On one hand, her partnership with Fujiwara steadily develops until she can stand on equal footing with him. But this relationship simply fosters a new colonial regime. Chan thus suggests that having the same aspirations as one’s male counterparts is not enough to affect a more progressive society. Instead, the relationship that is more relevant to this theme is the one she develops with Lina.

Cecily initially sees Lina, when she goes by Mrs. Yap, as a nuisance, indistinguishable from the British society women who perpetuate the norms that Cecily resists. But as Lina insists on a friendship with Cecily, it becomes clear that her social standing is much more nuanced than Cecily expected. She must entertain the rude and racist dialogues of the society women in order to advance her and her husband’s social position. Cecily becomes sympathetic to her because she realizes that both of them have been victimized by British Malaya in their own ways, Lina more so because of the way Cecily’s actions indirectly caused the British to arrest and execute Lina’s first husband, Kapitan Yap. Cecily’s double life as an informant and as a domestic housewife plays into her relationship with Lina. Cecily feels for Lina when she realizes that Fujiwara must abandon her and their new child. The only consolation she can extend toward Lina is in reassuring her that it is not her fault that Fujiwara has become distant. Even if she and Lina view the sociopolitical atmosphere of Bintang differently, Cecily cherishes Lina’s companionship. On the other hand, she also decides that the Japanese campaign in Malaya is much more important than her friend’s feelings. The most serious sin that Cecily commits is the decision to abandon Lina’s daughter after Lina has died. Their relationship does not obligate her to care for Yuki, and she chooses her own family’s welfare.

The friendship between Jasmin and Yuki can thus be seen as an intergenerational resolution of Cecily’s flaws. Their decision to protect one another and call each other sisters fills Jasmin with the love she had lost for her family. This declaration is especially important given that Yuki has been exploited by the men who come to the comfort station. Yuki has suffered greatly under colonial rule, having been abandoned by nearly all, including her fellow Malayans. Jasmin sees through Yuki’s scars and cherishes the person that nobody else sees. This resonates with Jujube’s sympathy for Takahashi’s daughter, Ichika, which occurs only when Jujube imagines the rich inner life that this other girl must have. The novel thus concludes that more than ensuring that men and women can stand together on equal terms, women must also make the effort to stand in solidarity with those who are victimized by their societies.