The Story Game: A Memoir

A ham-fisted framing device undercuts the occasional brilliance of Sundog Lit editor Tjoa’s debut. Locked in a mysterious room with her younger sister, Tjoa passes the time by telling six stories about herself, each one bringing her closer to unearthing a repressed traumatic secret. The richest of Tjoa’s tales—which appear as standalone autobiographical essays—interrogate subjects including racism and colonialism with piercing intellect. In “The Island Paradise,” the author recalls a family vacation in Bali, where she arrived “with the assumption that I am not like the other tourists” given that she “know[s] all about this island’s colonial wounds,” then left feeling deep guilt about her “ability to leave this place... when the pleasure finally ran dry.” In “On Being in Love with a White Man,” Tjoa—an Indo-Chinese woman who grew up in Singapore—gleefully unpicks the dynamics of her interracial marriage to illustrate how “decoloniality can reside in the details of everyday life.” Unfortunately, these sections build toward a gimmicky reveal that, once delivered, feels strangely muted and blunts the emotional power of the entire project. Though it’s bolstered by gorgeous prose and lucid political thought, the parts of this misguided exercise far outweigh the whole. Agent: Allison Malecha, Trellis Literary. (May)