Lake Like a Mirror

In this season of excellent short story collections, I am delighted to have received a copy of Ho Sok Fong's newly translated work, Lake Like A Mirror. There are nine accomplished tales in this book, each focusing on the lives of women in modern day Malaysia in an insightful yet wonderfully surreal way. I loved Fong's prose style and ideas. Even when a couple of the stories were so surreal that I couldn't quite keep a hold of the thread all the way through, I could still appreciate her vivid and concise creation of scenes, and her fascinating characters.

I learned what happened to a woman swamped by the detritus of other people's lives, and how greatly a teacher feared denunciation for a carelessly chosen poem in her classroom. I'm still not exactly sure what was in the wooden trunk, but I loved the setting of its elderly owner's junk shop, and the predicament of thwarted Aminah trapped in a correctional centre is heartbreaking. Fong depicts places and situations which, on the face of them, are very different to those I experience in my daily life, yet I could always understand and empathise with her protagonists. These women live in a society where the odds often seem overwhelmingly stacked against them, yet they find ways to carry on and, occasionally, to triumph! If you're a short story reader, particularly one who appreciates unusual setups and opaque depths, Lake Like A Mirror will be a worthwhile addition to your TBR list.