The South

Reading & Conversation with Tash Aw, London

It shimmers, it parches, it blazes: Tash Aw’s sensational novel *The South* doesn’t waste any time—it delivers a *Call Me by Your Name* set in the tropics and, at the same time, Aw’s third shot at the prestigious Booker Prize. Malaysia, 1997: On an inherited farm withering away under months of drought, sixteen-year-old Jay is tasked with tilling the parched land—side by side with Chuan, the steward’s son. Amid the dust of the fields and the scorching streets, something builds between the two that neither dares to voice: first desire, first awakening, as undeniable as it is unspeakable. As private as their desire is, so political is the fragile foundation of their relationship: class barriers, ethnic hierarchies, and a financial crisis that is pulling the rug out from under the family. Aw—based in London and working for the *New York Times* and the BBC—writes with equal parts sensuality and precision. “A magnificent book,” says cult author Édouard Louis. Intimate, far-sighted, damn hot—and the opening installment of an epic quartet of novels.