Prisoner from Penang

“Flynn has imagined the unimaginable – a dazzling achievement.” Linda Gillard, author of The Memory Tree and House of Silence.

Prisoner from Penang is the sequel to the award-winning The Pearl of Penang and is located in Singapore and on the islands of Sumatra and Penang. It is Mary Helston’s story and takes place during and after the Japanese invasion of Singapore and Malaya. Those who have read The Pearl of Penang will remember that Mary is Evie’s best friend, a school teacher, who has lived on the island of Penang for almost all her life.

After Penang is attacked by the Japanese at the end of 1941, Mary believes Singapore will be a safe haven. Within weeks the supposedly invincible British stronghold is on the brink of collapse to the advancing enemy. Mary and her mother are captured at sea as they try to escape and are interned on the islands of Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies. Imprisoned with them is Veronica Leighton, the one person on the planet Mary has reason to loathe with a passion.

As the motley band of women struggle to adapt to captivity, relationships and friendships are tested, When starvation, lack of medication and the spread of disease worsen, each woman must draw on every ounce of strength in their battle for survival.

Writing and researching this book was not easy as it was hard to live with the stories of extreme suffering and sacrifices made by all the women who were incarcerated in the Japanese prison camps between 1942 and 1945. Prisoner from Penang is dedicated to those women and children and their courage and endurance.