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    The Moonlight Palace
    The Moonlight Palace
    The Moonlight Palace
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Moonlight Palace

    Written by Liz Rosenberg

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Agnes Hussein, descendant of the last sultan of Singapore and the last surviving member of her immediate family, has grown up among her eccentric relatives in the crumbling Kampong Glam palace, a once-opulent relic given to her family in exchange for handing over Singapore to the British.

    Now Agnes is seventeen and her family has fallen into genteel poverty, surviving on her grandfather’s pension and the meager income they receive from a varied cast of boarders. As outside forces conspire to steal the palace out from under them, Agnes struggles to save her family and finds bravery, love, and loyalty in the most unexpected places. The Moonlight Palace is a coming-of-age tale rich with historical detail and unforgettable characters set against the backdrop of dazzling 1920s Singapore.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 1, 2014
    ISBN9781491529560
    The Moonlight Palace
    Author

    Liz Rosenberg

    Liz Rosenberg is the author of more than thirty books, including the critically acclaimed, bestselling novels The Moonlight Palace, The Laws of Gravity, and Home Repair. She is also a prize-winning poet and children’s book author. For over twenty years, she was a book review columnist at the Boston Globe. She teaches creative writing and English at Binghamton University. She has also guest-taught at Bennington College, Colgate University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She divides her time between Upstate New York, Florida, and Worcester, Massachusetts. She lives with her daughter, Lily, and their dog, Sophie. Her son, Eli, a comic and podcaster, lives in New York City. Visit Liz on Facebook for updates, extraordinary photos of ordinary beauty, and more information.

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    Reviews for The Moonlight Palace

    3.5/5

    48 ratings14 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      The synopsis of this book really intrigued me; I read a fair amount of historical fiction but I don’t read a lot that takes place in this part of the world. Any time I find a book that intrigues me and it’s removed from my usual European milieu I jump all over it. Singapore was pretty much an unknown for me and I’d hoped to learn something while being entertained.Agnes Hussein is the last of the line from the final Sultan of Singapore. Due to an agreement with the British government the family can remain in their palace as long as there is a male descendant still alive. Agnes has an uncle still living but he is getting older and there is just no money for upkeep.The book is a story of family, history and the ties that bind. It shows how sometimes a family’s history can do more harm to their future than they realize.Agnes is young, just 17, and she lives in a state of blissful ignorance about the true state of the family’s finances. She knows they are poor but it’s how it’s always been and she only wants to continue to live in the palace no matter what. When circumstances arise to perhaps cause them to lose the palace the adults try to protect her but she thinks she can solve all the problems. The arrogance of youth.There was so much potential in this book and it just didn’t live up to it for me. I think it needed to be a bit longer. The background needed some further development and the characters were also somewhat one note. I kept waiting for something to happen and yet it just rolled along at one emotional level.
    • 5/5
      Interesting and well narrated I was sorry it ended. A good read
    • 5/5
      Agnes lives in the crumbling Kampong Glam palace in Singapore with her elderly relatives. As the descendant of the last sultan of Singapore, her family made a special deal, that they would own the palace as long as a male descendant lived. Poor and without income, the family relies on boarders to survive. This was a very interesting book. I know little about Singapore and found the culture absolutely fascinating. Agnes and her relatives were an eclectic group of characters. The author developed and flushed them out very well. Overall, highly recommended.
    • 2/5
      This has been on my to be read reading shelf forever, I mean couple of years. The cover is gorgeous and intriguing, but I would have most likely picked it up anyway because the plot is set in Singapore. The book, particular the audio book I was listening to was excellent because of the speakers McFaden's voice and all the different roles she was able to bring in live and perfect pronunciations to local places and people. However, the story itself was fine, it has some historical fiction elements and as I know the Singapore's map and locations pretty well it become handy, otherwise I would suggest someone keep the map open to full get the sense of the city.The story tells about a 17 year old girl named Agnes or Aggie as everyone is calling her. She is representing a multicultural background as majority of nationals in the country. She is an orphan living together with her aunt and uncle who loves her dearly and would go an extra mile to save and provide her all the best they can. And who isn't when it comes to family - any time in a lifetime? Her uncle has served British army and there are some pinch of royal Sultan's blood in her. The time set in the book is some 1920's and they are at the very edge of poverty, struggle to survive and have proper school uniform. Agnes is going in one of the best High School's in Singapore. But the house they live is Kampong Glam, a historical building that is slowly but visibly the building is breaking down, new roof leaks here and there isn't nothing new, few rooms aren't usable anymore.Agnes is longing is engaging in relationship very fast without fully wanting but the next minute she is over heel about the temperamental British guy who keeps on insisting he is there for her and he does seem fishy. She gets her first job as journalist in the local newspaper, thanks to her uncle's reference and she does remarkably well, turning the society and the ratio of newspaper readers. She is devoted to her family, torn between them and her boyfriend. She gets proposed but not everything seems to be as easy as that...The main stress on this book, in my opinion, is about historic elements, powerful and strong woman, who is not forced down, but is ready to stand on her feet. She is naive at the first but her character grows when the book is about to end. It was a fine read, but did't attract me with very interesting other characters and the plot climaxes/ suspense.
    • 3/5
      Surprisingly short book about a Singapore family descended from Royalty now rattling around in a palace they can no longer afford to keep. Wasn't quite convinced about the awfulness of one suitor and the wonder of the next ; the plot was too neat for me in that respect.
    • 3/5
      This is a short novel about a girl Agnes that is growing up in a multicultural family. It has an unlikely mix of characters that somehow all live together in an old ramshackle palace in Singapore. It is full of turmoil, struggle and political upheaval. I found it interesting how each character was portrayed and the deceptions that occurred. Overall this was a quick and easy read. Interesting information on the history of Singapore. The characters were interesting in their own right. It may have been better to elaborate and have told each character’s story. I would have liked an outline or time line of the history of Singapore. I give this one a 3 out of 5 stars.
    • 3/5
      Having lived in Singapore for several months, I appreciated the author's attention to geography and cultural details (chicken rice!). Many works of historical fiction involving Singapore are being published now, and this is one of the better ones.

      Points off for frequent use of modern English colloquialisms, which take away from an otherwise rich atmosphere and respectable character development. An enjoyable short story.
    • 3/5
      A short tale of 1920s Singapore set in a decaying palace and the close-knit but extended family of relatives which inhabits the place. The narrator, the young Agnes Hussein, is determined to both forge a new path for herself and preserve her family's home. A nice, quick story that is full of setbacks and the resilience of youth.
    • 3/5
      Lovely little story.
    • 5/5
      A lovely novel

      l really enjoyed this beautifully written historical novel set in Singapore. Everything about it seemed very real, yet at the same time it had almost a fairy tale feel.
    • 4/5
      This is a gentle tale about a young girl in Singapore, born of nobility but living in gentile poverty, a book filled with wonderful characters, love and humor. No big surprises, but an easy, delightful read. 3.5
    • 3/5
      I received a digital copy of this novel through Kindle First. While this novel is well written and provides a fantastic view of the place and the life, I kept waiting for something to happen. There are really no major events. This follows a few years in the life of a girl in her late teens. Agnes lives in Singapore. Her family was previously well off, but has fallen on hard times. She makes a few mistakes along the way as she comes of age. The novel ends with her in love and facing the prospect of a change in circumstances.
    • 3/5
      The synopsis of this book really intrigued me; I read a fair amount of historical fiction but I don’t read a lot that takes place in this part of the world. Any time I find a book that intrigues me and it’s removed from my usual European milieu I jump all over it. Singapore was pretty much an unknown for me and I’d hoped to learn something while being entertained.Agnes Hussein is the last of the line from the final Sultan of Singapore. Due to an agreement with the British government the family can remain in their palace as long as there is a male descendant still alive. Agnes has an uncle still living but he is getting older and there is just no money for upkeep.The book is a story of family, history and the ties that bind. It shows how sometimes a family’s history can do more harm to their future than they realize.Agnes is young, just 17, and she lives in a state of blissful ignorance about the true state of the family’s finances. She knows they are poor but it’s how it’s always been and she only wants to continue to live in the palace no matter what. When circumstances arise to perhaps cause them to lose the palace the adults try to protect her but she thinks she can solve all the problems. The arrogance of youth.There was so much potential in this book and it just didn’t live up to it for me. I think it needed to be a bit longer. The background needed some further development and the characters were also somewhat one note. I kept waiting for something to happen and yet it just rolled along at one emotional level.
    • 3/5
      In the 1920s, Singapore was under British colonial rule and was surprisingly cosmopolitan. It experienced a financial boom between the two world wars, just as the Western world did. It had vibrant communities made up of various different nationalities: Indians, Straits Chinese, and British. Some of the unrest in neighboring China found its way into the equatorial island country. It is at this time and in this period of relative calm that Liz Rosenberg's short novel, The Moonlight Palace, is set. Agnes Hussein is 17. She is one of the last descendants of the last sultan of Singapore and she lives with her elderly extended family in the crumbling Kampong Glam Palace. Her parents and older brother died in the flu epidemic many years ago and she is left with her grandmother, Nei-Nei Down; British Grandfather; her Uncle Chachi, who is actually her great uncle and the heir to the palace; an aged servant; and a trio of odd young male boarders. It is only the rent that these students pay combined with British Grandfather's pension from the army that keeps the Hussein family in the slowly disintegrating palace at all. As the youngest, most able-bodied member of the family, Aggie feels as if she must take on responsibility for the old people, coming up with the idea of a retail job to help keep them afloat. Even as Aggie is trying to find a way to help bring in some money to patch the palace, one of the boarders is concocting his own dangerous plot that will change the lives of all the residents of Kampong Glam Palace but especially of the naïve and sweet Aggie who will experience love and betrayal for the first time as a result. The Singapore setting is well done and carefully drawn. The time of the book is less well depicted with little devoted to ensuring that the reader always feels immersed in the 1920s instead of the present. The history of the time was so rich, especially in Asia, and yet the novel really just offers a glancing nod towards the way in which the world around them was changing and the growing tensions in the British held colony. The characters themselves are generally appealing and entertaining but a little thin and the pacing is slow without much narrative tension. Some of this lack of tension is because the story is told from Aggie's point of view and her understanding of her family's tenuous position is not only incomplete but it is almost non-existent. She knows that their financial straits mirror the ruin of the palace but has no concept of what that really means for the future, leaving her open and susceptible to outside forces. The ending of the novel introduces a new character entirely and then wraps up abruptly after a cursory couple of pages. A quick read, this coming of age novel is not quite as fully rounded as might be hoped but it is, despite that, a nice and easy read.