Kepner's selection shows the many ways fiction has mirrored the lives of Thai women over the twentieth century. The spectrum is broad, encompassing the young and the old, the rural and the cosmopolitan, the privileged and the poor. Some writers address previously unacceptable themes: female sexuality, spousal abuse, gender oppression. Others display a scintillating sense of humor. They touch on many themes—injustice, the heartlessness of society, loneliness, the difficult choices that life presents. Susan Kepner's lyrical, faithful translations preserve the tenor and resonances of these voices, many of which will be heard for the first time by English-speaking readers.

Kepner's selection shows the many ways fiction has mirrored the lives of Thai women over the twentieth century. The spectrum is broad, encompassing the young and the old, the rural and the cosmopolitan, the privileged and the poor. Some writers address previously unacceptable themes: female sexuality, spousal abuse, gender oppression. Others display a scintillating sense of humor. They touch on many themes—injustice, the heartlessness of society, loneliness, the difficult choices that life presents. Susan Kepner's lyrical, faithful translations preserve the tenor and resonances of these voices, many of which will be heard for the first time by English-speaking readers.

A fifteen-year-old girl lost her father and now lives with her new stepfather and mum. She overhears her stepfather’s evil plans for her and runs away. She runs into a world of people she had no idea existed. She is discovered to be the fated mate of identical quintuplets. Not only is their father the king of this world, but he also knows her to be a threat—a threat he has to remove if he wants to keep his crown. She runs from one prison into another she never could have imagine existed. Will she find a way free, or will she fall deeper into bondage?

An anthology of international authors from the Pacific region, this book presents new work that includes over a dozen avant-garde poets from China, gathered by American poet and translator Artur Sze. Highlights include untranslated work by Ravindranath Tagore, and new fiction from Hong Kong.