Although marketed as historical fiction I would perhaps categorize Fragile Monsters as more predominantly an exploration of female relationships and familial ties. A story of three generations told through the eyes of the mothers and daughters - Mary, Francesca and Durga all strong women who hold to the path of their choosing despite the turbulent times they live through. The historical background of World War II and the campaign for independence could be examined more fully, but it's impact on the everyday lives of the central characters is deftly crafted. Menon's use of multiple narratives and timelines can at times feel a bit disjointed, but overall Fragile Monsters is worth a read if you like light historical fiction.

I enjoyed Fragile Monsters, and thought it was an intriguing story with lots of twists. Durga and her grandmother had a complex relationship and it was interesting to discover their family secrets. The setting of Malaysia was beautifully described. I was a little confused in parts what was the truth and which were pretend stories. But this was a very enjoyable read and I love forward to seeing what Catherine Monen writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Our main protagonist, Durga, has come back home to Pahang, Malaysia, to celebrate Diwali with Mary, her grandmother. Diwali, the Hindu new year, is usually a joyous occasion for families but for Durga, these trips home are out of a sense of duty more than anything else because Mary is difficult. She’s relentless, quick with her insults and critical of everything Durga does.

Durga has so many unanswered questions about her past, her mother, the rest of the family, but Mary, a storyteller, has a tendency to tell stories about the past that aren’t alway true. So while Durga is haunted by all the things she doesn’t know, Mary is haunted by all the things she does. She keeps her secrets close and has carried them alone for so many years, it’s almost impossible for her to share them. But this Diwali triggers an unraveling of family ties that have been so tightly bound by whispers, by secrets and by loss and Mary, who has spent so long dancing on the ice that has locked her family’s past for so long may just begin to crack.

Catherina Manon takes us on a journey through history. A journey, not only of our two women but also of Malaysia. Painted against the backdrop of Malaysian culture, war and natural disaster, Durga and Mary face their monsters in a beautifully crafted novel.

Manon has created a book so rich in language that it’s easily one of my favourites of 2020.

This book was not for me I am afraid. It is a book about secrets but I found the story too slow and I did not really have any feelings for the main characters.

I was initially drawn to this book as it is set in contemporary times and primarily based in Malaysia, somewhere I haven't travelled to yet. I also enjoy multi-generation stories, so I liked the back and forth between Durga's current life and her grandmother Mary's childhood. I learnt a lot about Malaysia's history and its diversity through the characters and their stories, so for that I am grateful. I also believe that it looks at colonialism, race, and class in a valuable way. There was also enough mystery to keep me drawn in and wanting to read more. It's like the author provided small snippets of certain characters throughout the story so that by the time the focus was on these characters, I had enough background information to know of them already. However, I found that I did not warm to the main characters as much as I thought I would, despite being able to relate to them in some ways.

Durga has her own ghosts to deal with returning to her grandmother’s house, deaths and betrayals, a mother she never knew and other lost relatives caught up in war and disaster. The river is always threatening to spill over and take the land back, floods being part of life in this part of Malaysia, and people have fallen into the watery abyss. Fire too is an accident waiting to claim life, even if it is supposed to be part of the celebration of fireworks. Her life is elsewhere now, a university career in the city, but the ghosts of the past and her fragile but fiery grandmother keep her, as well as Tom, her childhood crush. She has questions about the past, her own birth and the history of her troubled family.

My thanks to Catherine Menon, Viking Penguin and Netgalley for the ARC of FRAGILE MONSTERS.
When Durga returns home to visit her grandmother for Diwali little does she realise that this visit after a ten year absence will hurl her into a maelstrom of family secrets, ghosts and stories, and reminders of some events she would rather forget
Her relationship with her grandmother is based on the ever-changing stories her grandmother chooses to tell her on any given day; mercurial as she is Durga begins to question everything she tells her about her mother and her own birth. A novel that explores the history of the Japanese occupation of Malaya and the effects on Durgas family and how it, along with her grandmother's strong personality and beliefs impacts her life. An amazing novel, brilliantly observed and an exploration of family connections. I loved it!

A beautiful novel set in a time of turmoil and fear. The relationship between daughter grandmother is at the heart a wonderful story and how we can keep secrets hidden for generations.

Fragile Monsters is a beautiful unravelling of a family history using a dual narrative that charts much of Malaysia's history in the latter part of the 20th century to modern day.
At the centre of this tale sit Durga and her grandmother Mary, the woman who raised her, telling her fairy-tales and stories of their family, that aren't always distinguishable from each other. Durga, recently returned to Malaysia from Canada, visits Durga for Divali celebrations, an event which sets off a chain of events that make Durga relive memories she has been avoided from her own life, but also lead her to discover more about who her family were before she was part of it.
The language is full of arresting imagery and at times hums with lyricism. The complicated relationships and a host of fierce female characters are full of life, drawn vividly and with great sensitivity without ever being sentimental.
It is a compelling, winding tale, with a fantastic host of characters, written in evocative prose a perfect book to immerse yourself in as the days grow shorter.

This is a magical tale of a Canadian academic - Durga - returning to see her Malaysian grandmother and uncovering the secrets of their pasts.
The novel spans the turbulent years in Malaysia after the Second World War when Mary - the grandmother - was growing up, and the present day.
It’s full of ghosts and people with hidden truths.
Menon writes beautifully and it reads almost like magical realism.
I found it immensely satisfying to read and really cared about the characters.
I’d thoroughly recommend it to those who like stories spanning generations, and great writing.

This one wasn’t for me I’m afraid. I’m not sure why I picked it because I’m not usually a fan of this kind of ‘unravelling secrets slowly’ thing. I think the setting was well-drawn and the writing capable, but I found myself unable to relate to the characters and that’s a raw back for me.

There’s something ethereal about a homecoming, something which is probably different for each of us. It can be a joy to return to everything you love, or it can be something you simply have to suffer through until you can escape again. It can be a restoration of serene status quo, or it can be an entirely new whirlwind of emotion.

After ten years in Canada, Durga returns to Pahang to see her grandmother for Diwali. Durga and Mary are two entirely different women. Being of two separate generations, one a storyteller, one a mathematician, having experienced life in opposing ways, they see each other as exasperating, irascible, and far beyond hope. Neither are entirely likeable, but both are so vividly depicted that it’s impossible for a reader to do anything but stand by and defend them.

Menon displays a wonderful skill here in spanning the years. We see Durga return home to Pahang, see her describe the miseries and joys it holds, before being transported further into the past to explore Mary’s coming of age, and back again. What’s interesting here are the raw similarities between Durga and Mary at a young age, as though life had somehow replicated itself across the generations.

I particularly enjoyed the rich description of setting here, at times full of life and colour, bountiful and glorious, at others brimming with natural danger, with shadow and light, and with the unknown. Her pace was extraordinary as information was trickled to us slowly, all at the perfect moment, allowing for contemplation of what it all could mean, and why things might be the way they are.

Menon deals deeply with relationships here, with secrets and lies, and how these sometimes never leave us no matter how many years pass. Guilt, shame, and heartbreak all feature massively, and it made me feel strongly for these women. Love can be hidden sometimes, but it will always show itself in some way; in objects, in actions, and even in dark family secrets.

A remarkable debut full of myth and shadows; Menon has created something very distinctive here. It’s a wonderful read, overflowing with love, disappointment, and mystery.

Durga visits her Grandmother, Mary, for the festival of Diwali. What unfolds is a cross-generation family history of Mothers and daughters. Of reluctant Mothers, inadequate Mothers, and missing Mothers. Durga wants the truth, Mary tells her different versions wrapped up in myth, stories, and fairytales.Durga knows that with every story to be complete there has to be a 'What happened before' and inevitably a 'What happened next'.
A beautiful story told with the back drop of Malaya and world war two

"'Oh, Durga' she says. 'All this mathematics, isn't it? Always wanting for it to be right, instead of true.'"
This book was a fascinating read. What starts as a visit to Durga's grandmother for Diwali ends in a dual narrative exposing not only the Malaysian political landscape of most of the 20th Century but also buried memories coming to light. Set between the 1920s and the 1980s, the novel covers a lot of ground. Both Durga and her grandmother, Mary, have skeletons in their closet and while Durga chose to cope by moving to Canada for ten years, Mary chooses to cloak them in myth and storytelling. While Durga has pursued a career in scholarship and mathematics, Mary is a storyteller and somewhat unpleasant old women. I found the story to be highly engaging and interesting both for political insight and internal narrative. It is a heavy book with themes explored that are difficult and hard to read but I think largely they are done well. Some of the treatment of Mary's servant, Karthika, was a little insensitive, particularly the way her character was portrayed but the story is from the perspective of Durga who isn't entirely a lovely person. It definitely prompted me to lookup more about Malaysian history, especially during World War Two as it isn't an area I know much about.
Thank you very much to Penguin General UK and NetGalley for this ARC!

A family history of sorts, set in Malaysia. I found it quite hard to get into this book and felt that it did not really get going. It read like a book in translation, as it was rather disjointed.
I don't like to give negative reviews, as other readers may well enjoy this, but it did not work for me.

I have to confess to not finishing reading this book. I found it obscure and pretentious. I did try but maybe at 79 my brain is going awol because I really didn’t understand the little I read.

This is a fascinating story combining story-telling and reality. I was never quite sure if grandmother Mary's stories could be relied upon as there's always a sense that she's hiding secrets and towards the end her confused state adds to the blurring of the truth. Other characters too reveal their secrets to granddaughter Durga and I was constantly wondering if their truth was in fact their fantasy. It could be very frustrating to follow such a complex story, but in this writer's skilful hands, despite moving back and forth in time with some deeply unreliable characters, I never felt I was losing my way.

As we move through Mary's life story and accompany Durga on her search for the truth about her mother, the background of Malaya's troubled history of guerilla war, the Japanese occupation and the fight for independence is ever present. There are some truly chilling insights into the horrors the Malay people endured.

Sense of place is strong and you can never escape the relentless wetness of the setting: the swamp, the floods, the decay, the stench.

I could choose so many observational details that bring the book so vividly to life. One that stands out is the hospital visitor, almost but not quite immaculately dressed, his state of mind given away by the detail of his buttons being done up wrong.

Last but not least, I have to mention Catherine Menon's ability to make her writing seem so effortless. This is an art that is extremely hard to master - I am full of admiration!

This is a really fascinating book to read, it blends so many genres into something so distinct and unique. It feels magical. The beginning drew me into a whole world of interest and intrigue.