Reviewing “Looking After the Ashes” in conjuction with The Peranakan Festival in Penang
The Peranakan Festival in Penang is happening from 17th to 26th December 2021 and, in conjunction with the event, I’m pleased to review Kopi Soh’s book Looking after the Ashes.
Kopi Soh alias Cheah Swee Lian is an old blogging friend and she asked me to write this review several weeks back and, with the Penang Festival coming up, and knowing that the author’s family is originally from the island, I thought now would be the ideal time to write it.
The book is subtitled Old Wives Tales, Taboos, Supernatural and Childhood Superstitions which, having just finished reading the book, is an accurate description of what awaits. Being a “semi-biographical fiction,” therefore enticingly mixing memory and imagination, and being told from the point-of-view of young Swee Lian, makes the account interesting, highly personal and easy-to-read.
What’s more, it’s a pleasure to read!
You’ll not only find out about taboos and superstitions but there’s also lots about food. With all the vivid descriptions of Peranakan sweets and savouries one can’t help but salivate over its pages. There’s also a fair dose of Hokkien so you can pick up a word or two and say chiak (eat), chiak!
As it is right up my dark street,I found the spooky goings-on in her book highly intriguing. One of her scarier memories is of the “ghost child” which is a doll infused with the spirit of a dead baby that died pre-childbirth which her parents brought back from Thailand. This was not a doll one leaves in cupboard but it’s a doll that’s lovingly spoken too, is fed yummy snacks, given sweets and comics!
Did I mention that Kopi Soh is also an artist? Her black and white drawings, which you’ll find though out the book, are a delight to mobile-phone weary eyes.
This is an intimate family story with many events which are told in a mostly light-hearted way but there are sad and traumatic moments too. There is a richness here with so much to discover.
As an outsider, the book allows you transcend time and to step into the household of a Penang Peranakan family several decades ago. The author laments that their language and culture is sadly fading fast and so I’m glad that she has written it to keep its memory alive and to leave a legacy for future generations.
We need more books like this!
So if you’re unable to attend the Peranakan Festival in Penang, then at least get a copy of Looking After the Ashes.
But better still, do both!
