The Harmony Silk Factory

The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) is Tash Aw's critically acclaimed first novel, set in 1940s British-ruled Malaya, which is now called Malaysia. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Whitbread Book Awards for First Novel Award.

Booklist called The Harmony Silk Factory "an impressive contribution to a literature for which Conrad and Maugham are famous".The Guardian said the book was "a little rough and transparent in places", but that Aw "writes with what seems like effortless fluidity".Time Magazine wrote that Aw "produced a tale of love and betrayal that transcends mere location".Publishers Weekly also reviewed the book, writing "Aw's prose, though often witty and taut, is not equally convincing in all its guises".