British by birth, Rose Gan has been based in South East Asia for many years. Once a teacher of History and Latin, then a docent and an editor, Rose is now a successful POPULAR - The Star Readers’ Choice Award nominated author for her celebrated ‘Penang Chronicles’ series.
Thank you to all those readers who have been trying to find ‘Legacy’ in book shops and online. It hasn’t been released yet! The good news is, I’m currently in the final stages of the manuscript and hope to have a launch by mid 2025. Watch this space for updates!
LEGACY: COMING SOON!
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LEGACY: COMING SOON! 〰️
As a new century dawns, Light’s family is scattered, its inheritance in jeopardy….
Colonel William Light (1786-1839)
c. 1815 Artist unknown, possibly a self portrait
In the years following the death of Francis Light, his family faces an uncertain future. As Penang heads inexorably towards colonial rule, Martinha struggles to claim her rightful inheritance, encountering corruption, prejudice and heartbreak in equal measure. Scattered across the world, her children are forced to negotiate the British establishment alone as best they can with little but their father’s name and reputation to sustain them. From Britain to the Peninsular War, from the social pretensions of Bengal to the court of the Pasha of Egypt, from Java in the company of Raffles to the new city of Adelaide, the next generation makes its way, its roots firmly planted in the beautiful island of their home.
Penang Chronicles
Before Raffles, before Rajah Brooke, there was Francis Light, the 18th century trailblazer in the Malay Archipelago. From humble birth in Suffolk, Light struggles against the social prejudices of his day. His subsequent adventures as a Naval officer and merchant sea captain take him from India to Sumatra, the Straits of Malacca to Siam, through shipwreck, sea battles, pirate raids, and tropical disease. But his most difficult challenge is achieving his ultimate dream: to establish a British port in the Indies on behalf of the East India Company.
“At last, a novel series which engages a crucial and fascinating period of British merchant imperialism and Southeast Asian history. Penang, meeting place of Malays, Bugis and Siamese, here too are freebooting English and a more staid company in Calcutta. Here are mixed marriages, innumerable cross currents with the Dutch in Java and Sumatra, Chinese and Tamil traders, Achenese sultans and a Burma too close for comfort. And in the middle of it all is Francis Light, founder of modern Penang, a man of his times and of history.
Philip Bowring, Empire of the Winds
Rose is based in Kuala Lumpur, mostly tied to her desk writing her next novel when not travelling, knitting (a singularly useless hobby in Malaysia) and –inevitably – perfecting her sourdough bread.
‘Talking About My Generation’
Interview with Jean Friend:
https://talkingaboutmygeneration.co.uk/in-conversation-with-penang-chronicles-author-rose-gan/
