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A review by stitchsaddiction
The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree by Lucille Abendanon
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The Songbird and the Rambutan Tree by Lucille Abendanon is a fictional tale that is based on the very real events her grandmother, Emmeline Abedanon faced during the Japanese invasion of the then Dutch East Indies now Indonesia, during 1942 to 1945.
This is a book for young adults and does feature mentions of violence, starvation, and other war related horrors to please take this on board before continuing to read this book. There are moments that will make the reader emotional or nauseous, but even if it's fictional, the events of this invasion need to be acknowledged.
Set in Batavia (now Jakarta) in 1942, Emmy is 12 and trying to recover from the aftermath of a family tragedy that leaves her through psychological means unable to sing anymore. She, along with her father, is planning to leave the Dutch East Indies as the aftermath of Pearl Harbour has Japan looking towards the country. Emmy and her father are looking to flee to England, but everything goes wrong as Emmy's stubbornness and refusal to leave the place she calls home? Means that the two never escape..
From then on, everything the young girl has ever known is turned upside-down as World War II comes to their shores. The young girl is taken away by Japanese soldiers to the infamous Tjideng internment camp alongside children she'd gone to school with and their mothers.
Tjideng is a place of horrors, and the author has brought this prison camp, and that occurred there to life from the stories her grandmother, Emmeline Abedanon, recounted. This, of course, is where I have to remind you of my words of caution. The Japanese soldiers were determined to break their prisoners by any means, and the author describes this is in a gentle bur honest manner with many starving or receiving food that was rotten, the fact illnesses such as malaria spread swiftly through the emaciated women and children etcetera. But these brave people of Tjideng stayed strong, and such things as a choir kept them united, and the camaraderie is displayed beautifully as the women worked together as an almost family until 1945 when the Americans came.
Emmy's fictional story made me cry. It was hard to know so many went through this due for no other reasons than their birth and in the specific case of the Dutch East Indies, because the Emperor was determined to expand the Empire and lied to many, convincing the Indonesian residents that they would restore the country to them.
I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read this, I'd suggest this book to anyone wishing to learn more about WW2, and it'd be good as a companion book in schools when the subject matter is taught.
Emmeline Abedanon is an incredible woman if this glimpse of her childhood is anything to go by, as was anyone who endured such atrocities as she did. Thank you to Lucille for telling her story.
This is a book for young adults and does feature mentions of violence, starvation, and other war related horrors to please take this on board before continuing to read this book. There are moments that will make the reader emotional or nauseous, but even if it's fictional, the events of this invasion need to be acknowledged.
Set in Batavia (now Jakarta) in 1942, Emmy is 12 and trying to recover from the aftermath of a family tragedy that leaves her through psychological means unable to sing anymore. She, along with her father, is planning to leave the Dutch East Indies as the aftermath of Pearl Harbour has Japan looking towards the country. Emmy and her father are looking to flee to England, but everything goes wrong as Emmy's stubbornness and refusal to leave the place she calls home? Means that the two never escape..
From then on, everything the young girl has ever known is turned upside-down as World War II comes to their shores. The young girl is taken away by Japanese soldiers to the infamous Tjideng internment camp alongside children she'd gone to school with and their mothers.
Tjideng is a place of horrors, and the author has brought this prison camp, and that occurred there to life from the stories her grandmother, Emmeline Abedanon, recounted. This, of course, is where I have to remind you of my words of caution. The Japanese soldiers were determined to break their prisoners by any means, and the author describes this is in a gentle bur honest manner with many starving or receiving food that was rotten, the fact illnesses such as malaria spread swiftly through the emaciated women and children etcetera. But these brave people of Tjideng stayed strong, and such things as a choir kept them united, and the camaraderie is displayed beautifully as the women worked together as an almost family until 1945 when the Americans came.
Emmy's fictional story made me cry. It was hard to know so many went through this due for no other reasons than their birth and in the specific case of the Dutch East Indies, because the Emperor was determined to expand the Empire and lied to many, convincing the Indonesian residents that they would restore the country to them.
I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read this, I'd suggest this book to anyone wishing to learn more about WW2, and it'd be good as a companion book in schools when the subject matter is taught.
Emmeline Abedanon is an incredible woman if this glimpse of her childhood is anything to go by, as was anyone who endured such atrocities as she did. Thank you to Lucille for telling her story.