Why a Booktrail?
1930s: A girl of 16 is married off to a rich old man who desperately wants an heir
The Concubine’s Child
What you need to know before your trail
In 1930s Malaya a sixteen-year-old girl, dreaming of marriage to her sweetheart, is sold as a concubine to a rich old man desperate for an heir. Trapped, and bullied by his spiteful wife, Yu Lan plans to escape with her baby son, despite knowing that they will pursue her to the ends of the earth.
Four generations later, her great-grandson, Nick, will return to Malaysia, looking for the truth behind the facade of a house cursed by the unhappy past. Nothing can prepare him for what he will find.
This exquisitely rich novel brings to life a vanished world – a world of abandoned ghost houses, inquisitive monkeys, smoky temples and a panopoly of gods and demons. A world where a poor girl can be sold to fulfil a rich man’s dream. But though he can buy her body, he can never capture her soul, nor quench her spirit.
Locations
Reset- Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
- A: Petaling Street
- B: Royal Selangor Club
- C: Jalan Sultan
- D: Central Market
- E: Klang River
Travel Guide
Travel to Kuala Lumpur
Yu Lan the main character starts life wanting to go to school and only being allowed to so that she is educated enough to be able to read and cook for her husband. Marriage is what all girls should aspire to, but when Yu Lan falls for someone, she is told she has to marry someone who wants an heir.
Hope for education:
Yu Lan already had a boy in mind as a husband, a fact she dare not tell her father. If she could read, perhaps that boy’s father would see her worth. He might be inclined to accept a modest dowry. If she could read, she might have more choices. She might have some say in her destiny.”
The city is hot, humid and busy:
“Turning down, Sultan Street and then right into High Street, she was grateful for the shelter of the five-foot way keeping the worst of the sun from her bak, as she stepped around cobblers and other hawkers who plied their trade there.”
The landscape of the Klang River
“The Klang and its tributary the Gombok were timid at this time of year but during the Monsoon series regularly overflowed their banks. The floods of 1926 had been so bad that Kong had to wade through the streets of Chinatown to replenish her husband’s supply of Chivas Regal.”
The role of the Concubine:
You will be a valuable member of his household.’ She noticed that her mother used the word ‘gwai’, meaning expensive, rather than ‘jihk’, meaning of worth.” Her father is to be well remunerated for effectively selling his daughter and she is given to that family. She can’t even go back home to visit unless her new family give her permission. She is indeed an object, a possession to be traded. Bearing her new husband a son is all that matters. If you can’t marry a man, then be his mistress”
“Better to be a rich man’s concubine than a poor man’s wife.”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Concubine’s Daughter
Destination : Kuala Lumpur Author/Guide: Carol Jones Departure Time: 1930s
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