The Majesties: A Novel

by Tiffany Tsao

Overview

In this “bold and dramatic portrayal of characters on the cusp of an impossible choice” (Publishers Weekly), two sisters from a wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family grapple with secrets and betrayal after one of them poisons their entire family.

Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family, they’ve relied on each other for support and confidence. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their whole clan.

As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desperately retraces her memories, trying to uncover the moment that led to this shocking act. Was it their aunt’s mysterious death at sea? Estella’s unhappy marriage to a dangerously brutish man? Or were the shifting loyalties and unspoken resentments at the heart of their opulent world too much to bear? Can Gwendolyn, at last, confront the carefully buried mysteries in their family’s past and the truth about who she and her sister really are?

Traveling from the luxurious world of the rich and powerful in Indonesia to the most spectacular shows at Paris Fashion Week, from the sunny coasts of California to the melting pot of Melbourne’s university scene, The Majesties “is a thrilling, tender page-turner” (Krys Lee, author of Drifting House) as well as “a sobering look at the dark side of extreme wealth” (Kirkus Reviews).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982115517
Publisher:	Atria Books
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	626,753
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Tiffany Tsao was born in San Diego, California, and lived in Singapore and Indonesia during her childhood and young adulthood. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a PhD in English. In addition to writing, she translates Indonesian fiction and poetry.

Editorial Reviews

Tsao manages to make her characters sympathetic even if they are unlikeable — which is difficult for even the most seasoned of authors. . . . Any wealthy family, especially one as incredibly rich as the Sulinados, likely made their fortune through a mix of good business sense and utter ruthlessness, and it's the latter that makes The Majesties so compelling. . . . Tsao excels at delivering biting social commentary while also telling a riveting story. It's dark and often bleak, to be sure, but that never weighs the narrative down. I raced through The Majesties, unsure of how I wanted it to resolve, but knowing I wanted to arrive at some kind of satisfaction, a sense of relief after the darkness had washed over me. But the fact is, a book that grapples with such systemic, ongoing problems could never have ended cleanly, nor did it. . . . It's shocking how enjoyable and delicious this dark, disturbing novel was, and that unease will sit with me for a long time to come.” —Swapna Krishna, NPR

“A dark, delicious tale that will creep its way into your brain and leave you examining your own soul for signs of moral rot. I downed it in one greedy shot.” —Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. the World

"The Majesties is a thrilling, tender page-turner, the darker side of Crazy Rich Asians." —Krys Lee, author of Drifting House and How I Became a North Korean

“Tsao cannily pulls back the gilded surface from a wealthy Indonesian family, revealing a rotten core....the narrative unfolds in a manner that’s both suspenseful and creepily claustrophobic. The novel also prompts readers to consider the cultural relativism of stereotypes, contrasting outsider perceptions of those with Chinese heritage in both Indonesia and the U.S. Tsao depicts a family whose fabulous wealth and privilege not only blind them to the needs of others but also engender cruelty and self-destruction. This is a bold and dramatic portrayal of characters on the cusp of an impossible choice between complicit self-preservation and total annihilation.” —Publishers Weekly

“A sobering look at the dark side of extreme wealth among Chinese families in Indonesia... Tsao's depiction of domestic abuse is powerful.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Tsao deftly juggles a large cast of characters, and her thorough examination of the life of a wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family, as well as her insights into the false assumptions those in the Chinese, Indonesian, and Western communities make about its members, are intelligent and lively.” —Booklist

“The Majesties, although it rolls out easily, troubles deeply, haunting and even chilling its reader well beyond the final page.” —New York Journal of Books

"Tsao spins a Crazy Rich Asians-esque saga of family wealth and deception as a nasty-fun murder mystery chronicling the events leading up to a woman's poisoning of her extended clan." —Entertainment Weekly

“Tiffany Tsao’s visceral debut...reads a bit like Crazy Rich Asians if the book began with familicide instead of romance....Why not start off the new year with the perfect tear-it-all-down read?” —CrimeReads

Select Praise (published as Under Your Wings in Australia)

"Addressing Indonesia’s violent history, the 1998 May riots, and discrimination against the country’s ethnic Chinese minority, Tiffany Tsao offers an incisive critique of rich and powerful Chinese Indonesians, family bonds, and privilege. The book challenges many assumptions of what “Indonesia” is and provides a nuanced picture of wealthy Asian families in the transnational context. A compelling page-turner, it reveals the intricate dynamics between love, ambition, and fear as we journey through dark family secrets and unlock door after door before reaching the dead end. The Majesties is a chilling novel about what a family is capable of for the sake of maintaining illusions and the desperate, destructive ways that its entrapped members must take in order to escape.” —Intan Paramaditha, author of Apple and Knife and The Wandering

“One of the most gripping, original and enlightening novels of the day.” —SA Weekend

“Tiffany Tsao’s Under Your Wings is a sharply realised page-turner with a brilliant twist, written with an effortless command of pace and suspense.” —Sydney Morning Herald

“Tiffany Tsao’s novel of sisters Gwendolyn and Estella is haunting, disturbing and vivid. It is one of those novels that has such a strong opening chapter that I questioned if the author would be able to meet my expectations for the rest of the novel. But meet them she did.” —Readings

From the Publisher

10/07/2019

Tsao (The Oddfits) cannily pulls back the gilded surface from a wealthy Indonesian family, revealing a rotten core. The novel opens in the aftermath of an extravagant birthday party for the Sulinado family patriarch, during which a young woman, Estella, has poisoned her entire extended family. The only survivor, Estella’s sister Gwendolyn, narrates the events leading up to the mass murder from her hospital bed, where she lies in a comatose state. These include the disastrous devolution of Estella’s brief marriage, as well as the sisters’ recent attempts to reconnect in the U.S. with a fun-loving aunt whom they had believed, until recently, to be dead. The sisters share a close bond, though each successive revelation about how their morally corrupt family intervened in these personal affairs drives a wedge further between them. The plot takes a while to hit its stride, but once it does, the narrative unfolds in a manner that’s both suspenseful and creepily claustrophobic. The novel also prompts readers to consider the cultural relativism of stereotypes, contrasting outsider perceptions of those with Chinese heritage in both Indonesia and the U.S. Tsao depicts a family whose fabulous wealth and privilege not only blind them to the needs of others but also engender cruelty and self-destruction. This is a bold and dramatic portrayal of characters on the cusp of an impossible choice between complicit self-preservation and total annihilation. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Nancy Wu uses an arch, knowing tone to narrate this family saga steeped in drama and danger. Gwendolyn and Estella are the spoiled sisters of an upper-class Asian family who must confront past secrets if they hope to survive. Wu perfectly captures the sisters' privileged existence in Indonesia. We are taken into a world of luxury and jealousy, of competition between families and among their members. Wu carries us along the unfolding tension as Estella turns on everyone—including Gwendolyn. Keeping us hanging on every word, Wu makes us eager to find out what happens next. Well paced by an expert narrator, this roller-coaster story intrigues and entertains. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2020 - AudioFile

Nancy Wu uses an arch, knowing tone to narrate this family saga steeped in drama and danger. Gwendolyn and Estella are the spoiled sisters of an upper-class Asian family who must confront past secrets if they hope to survive. Wu perfectly captures the sisters' privileged existence in Indonesia. We are taken into a world of luxury and jealousy, of competition between families and among their members. Wu carries us along the unfolding tension as Estella turns on everyone—including Gwendolyn. Keeping us hanging on every word, Wu makes us eager to find out what happens next. Well paced by an expert narrator, this roller-coaster story intrigues and entertains. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2020 - AudioFile

2019-10-14
A sobering look at the dark side of extreme wealth among Chinese families in Indonesia.

Tsao's (The More Known World, 2017, etc.) novel begins in the aftermath of a crime as the narrator, Doll, tries to understand what has caused her sister, Estella, to poison everyone in their rich, extended Chinese Indonesian family. At first the novel takes a Crazy Rich Asians-esque satirical tone celebrating the Sulinado family's wealth, power, and, above all, material possessions as Doll recalls a life of great privilege. However, after Doll and Estella move from Jakarta to Berkeley, California, to attend college, the tone deepens. The middle part of the novel becomes a sly study of the stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans that the sisters face for the first time as minorities in the United States. Still the sisters are able to enjoy their relative freedom and come to study entomology, which later becomes the inspiration for business success for Doll. Meantime, Estella starts dating another rich overseas Chinese Indonesian student, a quiet young man named Leonard Angsono, whose possessiveness is at first charming. By the time Estella realizes that Leonard's insecurity and need to control her are dangerous, she is so invested in the relationship that she doesn't know how to save herself. Tsao's writing shines when she depicts the ways that the two wealthy families choose to ignore domestic abuse in their midst, revealing the misogyny at the heart of the patriarchal clans. As Doll recalls, "A marriage alliance with the Angsonos would benefit our fortunes. It would pave the way for joint ventures and favorable partnerships with Leonard's clan...." As the novel races toward its violent denouement, the tone changes again, however, and veers back into broad satire. Tsao was born in California but lived in Singapore and Indonesia in her childhood.

Readers may be thrown by the abrupt shifts in tone, but Tsao's depiction of domestic abuse is powerful.

Kirkus Reviews