Sunbirds

Book cover of Sunbirds

Book description

1941, West Java. Love and revolution are in the air. And war is on its way. Shortly before the Japanese invade, the van Hoorn family throws their famous Sinterklaas party at their tea plantation. One of their guests, Mattijs, a Dutch pilot, hopes to forge a future in the Dutch…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Sunbirds as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Kate Murdoch

Author

Sunbirds is set in wartime West Java and is a sweeping and atmospheric tale about love and being torn between two worlds.

Anna is the daughter of a wealthy Dutchman and a mother of Indonesian-Chinese descent. The family lives on an idyllic tea plantation and Anna is engaged to a pilot, Mattijs. Her life seems poised for comfort and security, but the family watches in trepidation as the Japanese capture other Asian territories and their campaign creeps closer to Java.

I loved the vivid and sensory prose, the sense of unease as the war arrives on their doorstep, and the…

From Kate's 3 favorite reads in 2023.