Missy Big Bungalow examines the effect of European men arriving in Siam and Malaya from 1900, but this is told – unusually – from an Asian woman’s point of view. That woman is the author’s grandmother, Chalerm, poor but beautiful and resourceful. To escape poverty, from the age of 15 she is the paramour over twenty years of a Dane, then a Scot. Marriage is impossible. She lives fairy-tale lives, hence her nickname, Missy Big Bungalow. However, her comfortable life is later punctuated by dark episodes, especially after the Japanese occupy Malaya in 1942. This time of turmoil and terror forces Chalerm to make a brave, heart-breaking decision to save her family by moving in as a Japanese businessman’s concubine. By war’s end, although a survivor, she’s bitter and disillusioned.

In 1948 British and Allied Forces fight another war in Malaya, this time against Chinese communists. Chalerm’s half-Scottish daughter marries an English soldier and moves to Nottingham. Chalerm then receives baffling accounts of her daughter’s life in austerity Britain. These provide her with startlingly unexpected views of the British. Later, changing social mores mean Chalerm actually marries a Scot.

This mixed-heritage family experiences a rich yet sometimes contradictory life in a British colony. The author’s task has been to try to investigate the varied impact of the British Empire on the local Asian people using her grandmother’s family as a microcosm.

Jean Brewster has a mixed heritage background which has established her appreciation of different cultures and the experiences of local Asian women in colonial times. As a child and later university lecturer for international students she has lived and worked in countries including Belize, Cyprus, Malaysia, Namibia and Qatar.

Jean explains: “On reading Michael Thorp’s book ‘Elephants, Tigers and Tappers’ set in colonial Malaya, I was struck by his words regarding the local, non-white partners many British men had, the ones who were often left behind when the men returned to the UK:

‘It would be an incredibly interesting task to try to document the lives that some of these women had.’ (2008: 108)

I immediately thought, ‘That’s something I can do. That’s my grandmother’s story.’

Most books I researched on the topic of Southeast Asia during the first half of the 20th century were male and Eurocentrist – written by and about men’s experiences. Few detailed such local women’s experiences.

This book outlines both the joys and heartache of living in these precarious positions with European men, one in which women had no power, simply had to survive. Missy Big Bungalow describes the courage and resourcefulness of one woman, alongside the highs and lows.”

RELEASE DATE: 28/04/2025 ISBN: 9781836281689 Price: £11.99