A deeply nuanced and witty debut novel examining the human cost of Malaysia’s racial policies through the lens of the tenacious Jasmine Leong, who is unwilling to accept the fate history has designated for her.Winner of the Epigram Books Fiction Prize‘Slick, sharp . . . a joy to read’ - Tash Aw, author of Five Star BillionaireJasmine Leong is the heiress apparent to Phoenix, her family’s billion-ringgit company known especially for its pork snacks. When her grandmother, the great Madame Leong, unexpectedly passes away, Jasmine discovers she is actually a Malay Muslim and this newfound identity threatens to upend her life and ambitions.Finding herself at the centre of a political controversy, and caught between two men who love her, Karina Robles Bahrin's The Accidental Malay examines the human cost of a country’s racial policies and paints a portrait of a woman unwilling to accept the fate history has designated for her.'A novel both generous and scathing; both honest and nuanced; both
