Cry of the Flying Rhino - Paperback

by Ivy Ngeow (Author)

CRY OF THE FLYING RHINO is set in 1996 Malaysia and Borneo, told from multiple viewpoints and in multiple voices. Malaysian Chinese family doctor Benjie Lee has had a careless one night stand with his new employee - mysterious, teenage Talisa, the adopted daughter of a wealthy, crass Scottish plantation owner, Ian, in the provincial Malaysian town of Segamat. Talisa's arms are covered in elaborate tattoos, symbolic of great personal achievements among the Iban tribe in her native Borneo. Talisa has fallen pregnant and Ian forces Benjie to marry her. Benjie, who relished his previous life as a carefree, cosmopolitan bachelor, struggles to adapt to life as a husband and father. Meanwhile, Minos - an Iban who has languished ten years in a Borneo prison for a murder he didn't commit - is released into English missionary Bernard's care. One day, Minos and his sidekick and fellow ex-convict Watan appear in Segamat, forcing Benjie to confront his wife's true identity and ultimately his own fears. Are the tattoos the key to her secrets?

Author Biography

IVY NGEOW was born and raised in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. A graduate of the Middlesex University Writing MA programme, Ivy won the 2005 Middlesex University Press Literary Prize out of almost 1500 entrants worldwide. She has written non-fiction for Marie Claire, The Star, The New Straits Times, South London Society of Architects' Newsletter and Wimbledon magazine. Her fiction has appeared in Silverfish New Writing anthologies twice, The New Writer and on the BBC World Service. Her story 'Funny Mountain' was published by Fixi Novo in an anthology Hungry in Ipoh. Ivy won first prize in the Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition 1994, first prize in the Barnes and Noble Career Essay Writing competition 1998 and was shortlisted for the David T K Wong Fellowship 1998 and the Ian St James Award 1999. Her debut novel, Cry of the Flying Rhino, won the Proverse Prize 2016. Ivy has been a highly-accomplished multi-instrumental musician since childhood and won fifth prize (out of 850 entrants) in the 2006 1-MIC (Music Industry Charts) UK Award for her original song, 'Celebrity'. Her second novel, Heart of Glass, will soon be published by Unbound (UK).