In her new short story collection, Joyce Ng Cheong Tin-Leung preserves memories of her own childhood and offers new narratives about cultural identity and the loss of innocence. Her young protagonist is guided and protected by the vibrant immigrant community on the island of Mauritius. Leung never forgot the lessons she learned from her family and neighbors. Now, she shares them with you.
The young girl at the heart of the story has grown up in a colonial world. The island's Caucasian population lives in large mansions while the Hakka-Chinese, Indian, and Creole laborers and merchants make their homes in other quarters. Leung recalls a beautiful community that had much to give. The young girl meets the liberated women of Meixian in her grandmother's circle, hears tales of fierce female fighters in their homeland (Fengliang), and witnesses a sacred Buddhist funerary rite. At the same time, natural disaster bleeds onto the island and shocks its inhabitants.
Leung's short stories provide an invaluable look at an island on the verge of social change. With a scholar's eye, she looks back at her childhood and examines the threads of colonialism, multiculturalism, community spirit, and optimism that ran through her early life.
About the Author: Joyce Ng Cheong Tin-Leung used her own childhood on the island of Mauritius as inspiration for her semiautobiographical collection of short stories, Dancing on a Wave. As a young girl, she helped her family run a shop on the island.
Leung received her doctorate in French and French literature from the University of Toronto. She turned her doctoral dissertation on slavery and indentured servitude into her first book, L'Esthétique de la canneraie dans le roman des Antilles et des Mascareignes. Her short stories have also been included in various publications.
Leung has spent forty years in Toronto and has taught primary, secondary, and postsecondary education. She has since retired and now devotes her time to enjoying life with her grandchildren, volunteering in the community, practicing yoga, and writing. As she loves drawing and painting, she has illustrated this new collection of stories with her own delightful sketches.
