The Storm We Made

"One of the best espionage novels I've ever come across." -CrimeReads

"Readers are transported back to 1945 Malaya in this rich, spellbinding saga that follows Cecily Alcantara, a mother who was also an unlikely spy for Japanese forces during WWII. Ten years prior, a chance meeting with General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage. Now, she'll do anything to save her family. This captivating story shines a light on the dangers of war and the lengths to which we'll go to save the ones we cherish." -Woman's World Magazine

"Vanessa Chan is the kind of author who can completely transport you to another time and place... it is a total page turner." -Good Morning America, GMA Book Club Pick

"This ambitious and sweeping debut novel explores the fallout of a Malayan woman's decision to become a spy for Japanese forces in World War II, unwittingly helping to usher in a brutal occupation with devastating costs for her family." -New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice

"Ambitious would be a trite term for Vanessa Chan's outstanding debut, a historical novel that thrums with the commingling tensions of its backdrop: the lead-up to the WWII Japanese invasion of what is now Malaysia. Chan writes her characters-particularly the conflicted protagonist, Cecily Alcantara, a former espionage asset to the Japanese Imperial Army-with a precision that neither flinches from the brutality of war nor ignores the humanity within. This is a book with real staying power." -Elle Magazine

"[T]his debut novel grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go, following a single family through one of World War II's most grisly-and often overlooked-chapters... Moving between perspectives and timelines-between actions and their disastrous, unforeseen consequences-Chan tests the bounds of familial bonds, political sacrifice, and human resilience." -Oprah Daily, The Best Novels to Read This January

"A wartime story like you've never read before." -PEOPLE Magazine