WINNER OF THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE AND THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME , TOWN & COUNTRY , KIRKUS, ELECTRIC LITERATURE AND BOOKPAGE ! "Stunning…epic…impressive…It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters.”— The New York Times "A deep and powerful love story." —NBC The Today Show "A beautifully written novel. I loved so much in this book: the richly imagined setting, the complicated love story, and the heartbreaking way history can tear apart a family." —Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy’s unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility—something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love.   By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up. An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people’s feet. An Amazon Best Book of April 2023: This beautiful and heartbreaking epic transcends genres. Set in a small coastal town in what will become Singapore, Ah Boon is a shy and thoughtful boy who prefers attending school and playing with his beloved friend, Siok Mei, over his family’s profession (fishing). As Ah Boon and Siok Mei grow up, they struggle with the complexities of the changing landscape: British colonialism, Japanese occupation, and the inevitable destruction of their village. Coming-of-age story, love story, historical fiction—Heng manages to do it all. You’ll ache for these characters, and the ending will leave you feeling equally satisfied, and bereft. The Great Reclamation begs to be a classic. —Sarah Gelman, Amazon Editor Praise for The Great Reclamation : “Epic for the reasons life itself is epic. The Great Reclamation asks the reader to confront the big things, like love and identity and loss, but it allows us to revel in the little things, too, from the buttery taste of steamed fish to the smooth surface of a rubber seed. It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters.”— The New York Times “[ The Great Reclamation ] illustrates the unsteadiness of both the physical environment and personal and political allegiances during a time of overwhelming historical change.” — The New Yorker “A love story about both heart and home.” — Time “Precisely and elegantly rendered. ”— Vanity Fair   “Stupendous… The Great Reclamation is a masterful work of historical fiction that makes the larger sweep of history intimate.”— Town & Country " Original and moving...It was not that long ago, in 2018, that Singapore appeared as a sort of flawless Wakanda-like place in the movie 'Crazy Rich Asians.' In The Great Reclamation, Singapore is given the complexity it deserves." —The Boston Globe “An exquisitely written, heartbreakingly beautiful tale of love and war.” — Ms. Magazine "Defies easy genre categorization, with elements of historical fiction, magical realism, and a sweeping, captivating love story at its heart." —Harper's Bazaar “Heng wrings a great deal of emotion from Boon’s experiences and relationships. . .skillfully capturing the inner psyche of a Singaporean everyman caught between two immovable worlds. This epic undertaking is not to be missed.” –Publishers Weekly, STARRED review "[A] story scaffolded against a sweeping backdrop—the politics of colonialism, World War II in Southeast Asia, ecology, the inexorable forces of development and modernization—with very little of that ever mentioned, instead focusing on the experiences of the characters in language of perfect simplicity. . .Like a drop of rain that holds the reflection of the world, crystalline and beautiful." —Kirkus, STARRED review "Heng captures the individual and collective challenges of being human, and explores what a modern country might become after the disr