Set during the tumultuous “Year of Living Dangerously” in post-colonial Indonesia, a stunning follow-up to the international debut literary sensation The Harmony Silk Factory.

Tash Aw burst onto the international literary scene in 2005 with his highly acclaimed, award-winning debut novel. Now, with the same lyrical evocation of an exotic yet tumultuous world that made The Harmony Silk Factory so beloved, Map of the Invisible World is masterful, psychologically rich, and deeply rewarding.

Sixteen-year-old Adam is an orphan three times over. He and his older brother, Johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; then Adam watched as Johan was taken away by a wealthy couple; and now Karl, the artist who raised Adam, has been arrested by soldiers during Sukarno’s drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of its colonial past.

All Adam has to guide him in his quest to find Karl are some old photos and letters — one of which sends him to the colourful, dangerous capital, Jakarta, and to Margaret, an American whose own past is bound up with Karl’s. Soon, both have embarked on journeys of discovery that seem destined to turn tragic.

Woven hauntingly into this page-turning story is the voice of Johan, who is living a seemingly carefree, privileged life in Malaysia, but who is careening out of control as he cannot forget his long-ago betrayal of his helpless, trusting brother.

Map of the Invisible World confirms Tash Aw as one of the most exciting young voices on the international stage.

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“Breathtaking…. Map of the Invisible World drops you on the streets of Jakarta and floods your senses with impending doom.”
— Toronto Star

“[Aw’s] writing is exceptional for its ability to adopt the voices of wildly different characters, and to describe deeply divergent social worlds. Aw understands that while grand historical narratives may often influence the course of lives, they do not determine the character of any particular person. And perhaps most important, he shows that nobody can decide for someone else what it meant to be home.”
— Winnipeg Free Press

“Terrific…. Carefully drawn characters pull the reader into the story … [and] Aw’s vivid prose puts you right inside Jakarta’s embassies and universities and on its streets. A sequence at a major demonstration outside Sukarno’s palace is totally brilliant. Compelling reading from a superb young writer.”
— NOW Magazine

"Indonesia in 1964 is a place of seething unrest . . . Against this roiling backdrop is Aw's novel enveloping the reader in several haunting personal journeys. . . . Aw's characters are vibrant and conflicted, lost in a web not fully of their making, yet one in which they've been complicit. . . . One is drawn so closely into the tale that it is clear to the reader, though not to the characters, that certain choices are bound to end badly. It is a tribute to Aw's skill that the reader is hoping, against all odds, to be wrong."—Denver Post

"This exquisite and haunting second novel from Aw follows a vibrant cast searching for a sense of home during the political upheaval of 1960s Indonesia…Well-paced and gorgeously written, this epic story of loss and identity mirrors the struggles of the young Indonesia in which it takes place."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An intricate and emotional work.”¯Library Journal

“A complex drama of private relationships…. While Aw’s prose remains as luminous as in his debut novel — evoking a wonderfully textured world of streets and shantytowns — there is greater emotional heft in this new work. The tender relationship of the brothers [reaches] an unbearably moving climax…. This book is full of immense intelligence and empathy.”
— TIME

“Reminiscent of Graham Greene…. Aw’s prose can be powerful and mesmerising…. Haunting and memorable.”
— Guardian

“Buoyant, limber, confidently told … jostling with love, betrayal and guilt, all set poignantly and subtly against the politics of turmoil in post-colonial Indonesia.”
— The Scotsman

“Aw serves up a superior effort in Map of the Invisible World. . . . What’s inviting and engaging about this novel — beyond the creation of believable and well-layered characters (even minor ones like Neng, a tough Madurese girl, and Mick, an Australian journalist) — stems from the smooth story-telling style, the fluid prose.”
— Malaysian Star

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Tash Aw’s debut novel The Harmony Silk Factory was the winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award 2005 and a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book in 2006, as well as being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He is Malaysian by birth and now lives in London, England.

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