The Sea Speaks His Name

Jakarta, March 1998. At dusk, in a Jakarta flat, the student Biru Laut is seized by four unknown men. With his friends he is taken to a secret place, held for months, interrogated, beaten and electrocuted to make them say who stands behind the student movement. In June 1998 his family still cooks his favourite dishes every Sunday and sets out a plate for him, waiting for a son who does not come. In 2000 his younger sister Asmara Jati joins a commission searching for the disappeared, recording the testimony of those who returned, while Laut's girlfriend and the parents and wives of the missing demand answers. The novel's first part is told by Laut, the second by Asmara.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Length

379 pages in the original

Genres

Politics, Family (assigned by AI)

Set in

Indonesia, 1998–2000

First published

2017 by Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia

ISBN

9786024246945 (original)

9789814882316 (Penguin Books, Singapore)