In the early morning, Princess Ongnit lifts Poengkew, a girl who will grow up within the walls of the inner palace—far from her mother, in a world of rituals, silence, and secrets. What begins as a life steeped in tradition quickly turns into a struggle between obedience and a desire for freedom.
Years later, during the Japanese occupation of Thailand, Poengkew flees the bombings with her son. She fights to survive in a torn world, driven by love, loss, and hope. Her path crosses that of Simon, a Dutch prisoner of war who changes her life forever.
Decades later, in 1978, Poengkew travels back to Bangkok with Simon. In her suitcase: a savings secret, an old photo, and the question that has never left her: will she ever see her lost son again?
A compelling, true-life novel about courage, motherly love, and the search for reconciliation, set against the backdrop of a changing Thailand.
Petra de Haas:
Petra (born 1963) is a Rotterdam native. Half Thai, half Indonesian. Without any writing experience, I started writing about my mother's life. I told her story to people. "You should write a book about that," were the reactions.
But how do all those writers do it? Can I do it? Yes! I'm proud of this true story.
