We devoured "The Weight of Our Sky" in just a few hours. You should too.

"By the time school ends on Tuesday, my mother has died seventeen times."

That's the powerful opening line that beginning Hanna Alkaf's powerful debut novel "The Weight Of Our Sky," which was featured on many of 2019's best-of lists (including Lakshmi's, which you can find here.)

Alkaf tells the story of Malaysian teen Melati Ahmed, a Beatles-obsessed teen with severe OCD in 1969 Kuala Lumpur. Melati and her best friend Safiyah love nothing more than visiting record shops and going to the movies, but one such outing becomes life changing when they end up caught in the middle of the city's race riots on May 13, 1969.

Melati ends up taking refuge with a kindly Chinese Malaysian family as she wonders if she'll ever see her mother again.

Lakshmi: I know we both devoured this book in just a couple of hours. It was so good (and so wrenching!) We should note that the author Hanna Alkaf begins this book with one of the strongest trigger warnings I've seen in a book.

"Before I even begin to say anything else: I'm going to say this: This book is not a light and easy read, and in the interest on minimizing harm, I'd like to warn you now that its contents include graphic violence, death, racism, OCD, and anxiety triggers. If any of this is distressing for you at this time, I'd recommend either waiting until you're in the right space to take all of that on or forgoing it altogether."

I really respected that she included that! The target audience of this book is probably 15-17. Those topics are big topics, they should approach them when they are ready.

Asha: Agreed. It's always good for a reader to know what they're getting into.

Lakshmi: And we've talked before about how we didn't really learn about major events in Asian history like this in school, so I also really appreciated how this book describes what experiencing sectarian violence and racial tensions must have felt like for a teen.

Asha: I had no idea that these riots happened!

Lakshmi: Me either. We mentioned in the intro that Melati has OCD, and one of the ways that manifests itself is that she becomes convinced that if she doesn't count a certain number of sets of three that a djinn will kill her mother. This means that she constantly has to stop what she is doing and (sometimes subtly, sometimes not) do her counting.

Even in the middle of the violence when she is running for her life, she doesn't lose count. (This obviously leads to complications). It was an interesting depiction of her illness and I was glad that she found strangers who were for the most part compassionate towards her.

Asha: Same. I did like the explanation for her OCD. It makes sense in a time when mental illness was poorly understood, and religion was paramount

Lakshmi: And she addresses that too at her note at the ends. She knows that some readers would be confused by Melati's family's treatment of this illness but psychiatric help is difficult to find in Asia NOW

I can't imagine what it was like in 1969 in Kuala Lumpur, especially for a working class family like this one. Melati's mother is a nurse, but even with that there's only so much she has access to.

Asha: Definitely.

Lakshmi: As usual we don't want to give too much away, but what we will say is that Melati and her best friend love two Pauls — Paul McCartney and Paul Newman — in particular. Safiyah insists on seeing the current film one more time (even though they've seen it before and even though it's not like they are rolling in pocket money). 

Asha: Safiyah had a strict dad, so the movies were an escape (plus, she never knew when she’d see the film again.)

Lakshmi: Right. So Melati goes along and takes her counting breaks as needed, etc. But going to the movies was a terrible mistake through no fault of their own because rioters enter the theater and start dividing Chinese people and Malays.

When Melati freezes with anxiety and fear, an older Chinese auntie steps in and says she knows Melati and insists to the rioters that Melati is with her. Here's that passage:

"The man snorts disbelievingly. "Then why can't she tell me so herself? No voice? Or no brain?"

"Can't you see how frightened she is? You think it's easy to talk to you?" she sniffs. "I see your face, I would be scared to talk to you."

----

"Then he shrugs. "Fine, Auntie, you win. Take her home."

It's a really chilling scene and you realize that things could have gone very wrong for auntie as well.

And a woman like this obviously isn't going to let Melati wander KL by herself amidst this violence, so she introduces herself as Auntie Bee and takes her home and immediately starts thinking of one of her own.

Asha: And I don’t think it is a spoiler to say how Auntie Bee was able to save Melati. The Chinese rioters can't tell whether Melati is Malay, so Auntie Bee lies and says she's Eurasian.

Lakshmi: Yes and all of the Indian people in the theater and the rest of the Chinese are let go. It's really horrible to read. It reminded me of that Louis Malle movie “Au revoir les enfants” in a lot of ways.

Asha: Yes!

Lakshmi: There were those sharp moments of having to hide your identity and not knowing what happens next.

Asha: But then, of course, Melati has to live with the guilt of knowing she survived when her friend died

Lakshmi: And there's also guilt throughout the book about being taken in by a Chinese family and then realizing she's been hearing anti Chinese sentiments her whole life.

Auntie Bee's husband is named Uncle Chong and I think he was one of my favorites in this book. He just took everything in stride, even as the world around him was unraveling.

Asha: Yes, he was pretty level-headed. it made me think about what he must have lived through

Lakshmi: Here's the moment he notices Melati at their table.

"He nods, as if it's entirely normal to bring home a random Malay child. "Of course, of course, he murmurs. "Sorry, I never introduced myself. You can call me Uncle Chong."

"Thank you for letting me stay, Uncle Chong," I say shyly.

"No, no," he demurs, stretching out his arms expansively. "Our home is your home." 

That is just so generous. Because he just came home from witnesses the rioting himself and the reader is given no indication of whether he also escaped violence the way Melati and Auntie Bee had just hours earlier.

Asha: And then the next morning the two of them have a house full of people escaping the riots

Lakshmi: Yes. They have very little and share all of it.

What did you think of the brothers Frankie and Vincent? They were both archetypes but I thought they were done really well.

Frankie is extremely distrustful of all Malays and doesn't understand why his parents are opening their home ro one (even if she's a kid who is clearly unwell.) Vincent tries to be good and see good the way Uncle Chong does.

Asha: I liked the way they were juxtaposed and Auntie Bee's explanation about how they ended up like that.

Lakshmi: Yes! (again, no spoilers!) but it showed how being exposed to violence early in life changes you forever. (As Melati is figuring out too.) I also highlighted the moment Melati realizes that she's heard anti-Chinese things her whole life and that it had gotten to the point that it was just background noise in her life. Here it is. It came as Auntie Bee explained the concept of "giving face":

"Malays are so particular about giving face. But once in a while, someone would joke about pendatang, immigrants. Or they would refer to us as "you Chinese,' laughing as they did it. Or make pointed little remarks about 'outsiders' stealing jobs." She sniffs.

The phrases are familiar; I feel a distinct unsetting sting when I realize that I grew up with them, heard them so often that they were reduced to nothing more than background noise.

This next section reads very familiar to Americans too!

"Taking away our opportunities. Heathens. Chinese pigs. Go back to where you came from. Malaysia for the Malays. Have I ever said any of those words? Do I believe any of it?”

Wow that section is good.

Asha: Agreed. I thought there was a lot of nuance in it.

Lakshmi: There was also a moment where Uncle Chong is listening to the news and it is all patriotic songs and anchors urging listeners to be good patriots and it was a lot to read over at this particular moment.

Asha: Sadly, I think it's an almost universal experience in this day and age.

Lakshmi: Before we go I want to stress that I was so impressed by how compassionately all of these characters were treated. They all felt like real people whose motivations I understood (even with characters like Frankie, who I didn't agree with).

Asha: Definitely. She wrote them very well.