Wall
Against the Wind is a true story of childhood and adolescence
of a young Isan girl. Written in novelistic style, Jampee Tawylert—a
remarkable and rare Thai woman author with little formal education—details
her own life growing up in a Thai rural village in the 1970s, a time
when trucks and concrete roads were rare and people still walked along
the oxcart trails between villages and rice fields.
Told
through the voice of Lamphai, Wall against the Wind is a
story of a young girl learning the hard lessons of life inside a traditional
rural family. This heartfelt narrative is a window into understanding
a Thai mother-daughter relationship and how the young daughter drew
strengths from her mother, who was like a wall that shielded her against
the natural wind of pain and suffering until she learned how to be
brave and strong enough to survive on her own.
In
Wall against the Wind the author’s keen eye for details and
understanding of ancient customs, cultures, traditions, and superstitions
in the way of living from birth to death. The story will not only
introduce readers to an intelligent and observant young Thai village
girl, but will also bring them back to the beautiful and less complicated
past of Thailand that many Thais have forgotten.
Praise
“Wall
Againt the Wind introduces an authentic Thai voice: that of the
remarkable Jampee Tawylert, a northen Thai woman who, like many, left
her village school at 12 to work the land and help support her family
in the largely pre-industrial 1970s. The autobiographical tale is
told in a novelistic style through the eyes of a nominal protagonist,
and is rich with fondly recalled insight into an uncomplicated rural
lifestyle that many metropolitan Thai jetsetters heve long since forgotten.”
—Bangkok 101