Official Review: Tiger Lily of Bangkok by Owen Jones

[Amihan]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Tiger Lily of Bangkok" by Owen Jones.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Set in a bustling city with a thriving nightlife, Tiger Lily of Bangkok is a suspense thriller centering on a young woman's exploration of sexuality and power.

Lily, the story's protagonist, is a meticulous and diligent medical student in Bangkok who has a painful past and a mysterious lifestyle outside the university. She comes from a rural village in Isaan near the Mekong River where an "uncle" had been sexually abusing her since she was eleven. After her uncle is caught, her parents use the reparation fee to send her to a medical college. Finding city life expensive, she relies on a set of "boyfriends" whom she twists around her little finger to maintain her lifestyle in exchange for the sexual satisfaction she gives them. Lily takes on a different name for every man she meets, and a different personality around each boyfriend. After school, she goes out with either Aeng who is a possessive man with a rich inheritance, Ma who is a much older man who likes to play daddy, Bai who is a stingy cab driver or Deo who is the youngest of all.

Despite the many men that are encountered and some other classmates from the university, however, all these other characters in the story are hardly developed, and so they all seem to merely function as background around Lily. The first part of the story takes much time establishing Lily's routine and this dragged the story-line a bit. Fortunately, things become more interesting at the second half of the book.

The book's author, Owen Jones, though born in South Wales, has spent many years settling down in Thailand. His work, filled with local color, displays his knowledge of local culture which can be better appreciated by readers with the help of a glossary he provides at the end of the book. The author also displays some of the problems of patriarchy in culture and the difficulties this poses for young women and girls.

Although the novel is about a teenage woman who is finding her way amidst such difficulties, it is not for the faint of heart. Its mature theme involving sex, gore and violence and its explicit language may catch some sensitive readers off-guard. Nevertheless, it is the element of dissonance and discomfort that makes the author's point come out much stronger and allows Lily to emerge as a character one can both root for and dislike at the same time.

I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. While the plot and the other characters could have been developed more, the story succeeds in offering readers an impassioned and thought-provoking experience. The book’s sequel, Tiger Lily of Bangkok in London, has also already come out and it may be worth looking into it as well.

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Tiger Lily of Bangkok
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Like Amihan's review? Post a comment saying so!

[owenjones]

Hi Amihan,

Thank you for your thoughtful review. I think you were spot on.
I did not develop the other characters for two reasons, which may be of interest.
This book was my first entry into NaNoWriMo and into this genre, and since NaNo insists on at least 50k words, I stopped there.
In a way, I treated the book as a pilot...
However, more than that, Lily was the reason for the story, not the guises that abusers come in....
Tiger Lily has been quite successful, and so I wrote the sequel, which does dwell more on her friends, but not the perpetrators, whom I still cannot bring myself to describe in detail.
Lily is the important character, and the theme is: What can the long-term effects of child abuse be?

Thanks again for your excellent review.
I hope that you will get the opportunity to read the sequel, I will post it here when I am able to.

All the best,
Owen
Author of Tiger Lily of Bangkok

[Amihan]

Hi Owen!

I enjoyed reading your book and I congratulate you on its success. Thank you for responding to my review. I also appreciate how sympathetic you are to survivors of sexual and child abuse. In this sense, your books also possess social relevance. Lily's story is indeed one that needs to be told. I'm glad that you have written a sequel.

[Tanaya]

Sounds like a dark and intriguing book. I'm especially drawn to the notion of her having a string of lovers in order to maintain her lifestyle. I'm leaning toward lighter books for now after reading a string of pretty dark books. But this is something I would consider reading in the future. Lily sounds like a very interesting character.

[Amihan]

Lily is indeed an interesting and complex character, but yes, the theme is rather disturbing. Do check it out when you find yourself in the mood for something like this in the future.

[rssllue]

I don't think that the book is for me, but you gave a very good review! Nice job!

[Amihan]

Thank you for your encouraging comment, rssllue!