Title: The White Amah by Ann Massey

Genre: Asian fiction, women’s fiction, adventure, romance

Amazon Reviews: 11 reviews on Amazon.com with a 3.8 average – this average is drawn down by a reviewer who gave 1 star because of a belief that this particular book made his or her Kindle freeze up. That can hardly be the fault of the book. But, go figure, we do love our reviewers.

My 4 Star Review

An Ambitious Page-Turner of a Novel

“This was the biggest scandal to hit the nation in years. It had everything: feuding rock stars, sinful secrets, faraway places, a beautiful, long-lost daughter and a brutal murder.” This quote from Ann Massey’s novel could have been the book advertisement. Indeed – The White Amah has it all.

Massey is quite adept at creating dynamic, intense female characters. Rock stars, business tycoons and money guys round out the cast. There are multiple settings from Australia to the jungles of Borneo and then onto the streets of London. And some interesting tribal customs are swirled into the mix.

The lives of three women from very different walks of life weave through the pages and come together in a dramatic climax. The cast of male characters serve to heat up the action. These guys cover all the bases – the outright criminal, the self-serving rock star, the long-suffering guy and the solid hero.

As my title suggests – this novel is ambitious with a capital A. Each of the female characters could have generated her own novel. At times the author gave broad brush strokes that could only hint at the possibility of so much more. I will not be alone as a reader who wanted more but, on the other hand, perhaps Massey had the right idea. To lavish on all the detail might have made the story cumbersome.

The White Amah is well worth reading. The settings are intense; the characters jump off the pages and for such an intricate plot, the author ties up all the loose ends with style.

Here is a bit more about Ann Massey – shamelessly taken from her Amazon author page:

Ann Massey writes fiction that draws on different literary traditions. Ann calls her books square-pegs because they don’t slot neatly into a specific genre slot. She is the author of three genre-bender books. Her latest book, The Little Dog Laughed, a quirky historical fantasy was published on 15 January 2016.

I love the cover of this one!

Ann holds a college degree in teaching and currently teaches English Literature. Outside of teaching, she worked in the newspaper industry as a sub-editor and marketing manager. After living in England and Borneo, she has settled in the beachside suburb of Quinns Rocks in Western Australia.

So – there you have it folks. Another Tuesday Book Blog offering.