Katie Goes to KL

‘I love Su-May Tan’s writing. Her Malaysia and her Australia are complex, vivid places.’ - James Button, author and ex-journalist, The AgeA coming-of-age tale of love and cultural reconnection set in modern-day Kuala LumpurKATIE CHEN, sixteen, lives in the unremarkable suburb of Narre Warren in Australia with her somewhat reclusive Malaysian father. Coming to Australia when she was five and then losing her mother at seven, she has always struggled with her identity.One day, she goes back to Malaysia for her grandmother’s funeral and discovers that her mother—long-thought-dead—is alive. Thus begins Katie’s quest to reconnect with her mother and discover her roots.The novel is set in modern-day Kuala Lumpur (KL) against a backdrop of rising political tension between the Chinese and the Malays. When Katie discovers that her mother is Malay, she finds herself caught between her Chinese cousins and her mother’s conservative Muslim community, the Wira group.As Katie bonds with her cousins through KL’s underground music scene, she is forced to define her loyalties. Which community should she support and where does she belong?