The Accidental Malay (Paperback) - Karina Robles Bahrin

A deeply nuanced and witty debut novel examining the human cost of Malaysia's racial policies through the lens of the tenacious Jasmine Leong, who is unwilling to accept the fate history has designated for her.

Winner of the Epigram Books Fiction Prize
'Slick, sharp . . . a joy to read' Tash Aw

Jasmine Leong is the heiress apparent to Phoenix, her family's billion-ringgit company known especially for its pork snacks. When her grandmother, the great Madame Leong, unexpectedly passes away, Jasmine discovers she is actually a Malay Muslim and this newfound identity threatens to upend her life and ambitions.

Finding herself at the centre of a political controversy, and caught between two men who love her, The Accidental Malay examines the human cost of a country's racial policies and paints a portrait of a woman unwilling to accept the fate history has designated for her.

'A novel both generous and scathing; both honest and nuanced; both grounded in human emotion and engaged with history and politics' Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening Is the Whole Day

About the Author

Karina Robles Bahrin got her first break as a writer when she guest-edited a weekly teen column in The New Straits Times a very long time ago. Her short fiction has been published in Urban Odysseys: KL Stories, KL Noir: Blue, A Subtle Degree of Restraint & Other Stories and Malaysian Tales: Retold & Remixed. She currently lives and works on the island of Langkawi where she runs a hotel, restaurant, farm and community initiative promoting storytelling among the island's youth and children. The Accidental Malay is her first novel.