Author: Sunil Amrith, Ruth Coffey, Matthew Frame (ills)The book follows the lives of three children from diverse backgrounds: in the 1920s, Samy is sent from his village in South India to work in a rubber plantation in Malaysia; Abdul moves with his family to the thriving port city of Singapore in the 1930s; and Lily who lives in Rangoon, sets out for India in the wake of the Japanese invasion of Burma in the 1940s. The stories are followed by an afterword that elaborates on the history and context of the times and places.The book is illustrated by the British artist Matthew Frame, based on references provided by the authors – period photographs, documents and ephemera like ship tokens – as well as historic sources unearthed by Geetha. The design, by Ragini Siruguri, evokes a sense of the period by placing the text and images within the context of the printing and publishing cultures of South and South-east Asia in the first half of the 20th century. ISBN 9789390037087. Tara Books. hb. 112 pages. Offset-printed. 17 x 24 cm.not yet published
