The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

One of the hardest books I've ever read, a cast of characters I will never ever forget. Set in British Malaya, 1930s. No spoilers, just read it.

From the back

British Malaya, 1930s

Discontented housewife Cecily is seduced by Japanese general Fujiwara and the glorious future he is promising for 'independent' Malaya, free from British colonialism. As she becomes further embedded as his own personal spy, she unwittingly alters the fate of her country by welcoming in a punishing form of dictatorship under the Japanese in WWII.

Japanese-occupied Malaya, 1945

Cecily and her family are barely surviving. Her children, Jujube, Abel and Jasmin, are surrounded by threat, and look to their mother to keep them safe. But she can't tell them about the part she played in the war - and she doesn't know how to protect them.

Can Cecily face up to her past to save her children? Or is it already too late... ?