16 Jul / Bright by Duanwad Pimwana, translated by Mui Poopoksakul [in Booklist]
“You stay here. I’m taking your brother over to Grandma’s. I’ll be back in a bit,” 5-year-old Kampol’s father promises. Just a few days ago, “something went down at his house”: Kampol’s mother disappeared, and now his father and not-yet-1-year-old baby brother are leaving.
Most of the neighbors in Mrs. Tongjan’s “cluster of tenement houses” know Kampol well and readily take turns trying to at least feed the young boy. He’s reticent at first, not wanting to miss his father’s return, but as hours become days – and more – he realizes he’s truly alone. Miraculously, Kampol always has enough food and somewhere to sleep, and eventually he even finds ways to make a little money. When Kampol’s father finally emerges, the reunion lasts only a single night. His mother reappears but never stays. And yet Kampol survives – even thrives – as everyone’s child.
Two Duanwad Pimwana titles arrived stateside last April, thanks to lawyer-turned-translator Mui Poopoksakul: Bright is Pimwana’s first novel published in the U.S. and Arid Dreams is her debut short story collection. Pimwana is one of Thailand’s most important female writers, and Western readers can hopefully look forward to additional imports.
Review: “Fiction,” Booklist Online, June 19, 2020
Readers: Adult
Published: 2002 (Thailand), 2019 (United States)