This book is neither nationalistic nor biased in its story telling. Instead, it is a recount of a history we ought to have known, but perhaps never really did.

There is Claude Lim, a Chinese boy of an Anglophile family stuck between two cultures – an inability to fit with the British and a failure to understand his own language and culture. Jack Winchester is a British family friend, who is admired in Singapore for his skin colour. Yet, in Britain, he is nothing more than a barely surviving, common man on the street. Aiding them during the Japanese invasion is Han Ling-li, a Chinese nurse who is passionately worried about the future of her country.

The story weaves in and out of the lives of these characters and the musings of a Body; whom we learn is the captured Claude, tortured to confusion. Added to the mix are expatriates who believe that they are upper class citizens as well as nationalists and fifth columnists (Japanese spies), all mingling as the Japanese advanced towards Singapore.

To complete the candid story of a history I thought I knew and Claude’s ultimate appreciation for his true heritage, Loh finished with a Chinese passage – of Claude describing Ling-li’s torture ordeal.

Perhaps the most appealing draw of Breaking the Tongue is the light it sheds on precious moments of humanity. Are the Brits that mighty? Are the Japanese troops really saviours?

Nothing is infallible, and nothing is completely evil.

Related Links: Vyvyane Loh website