Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaung. W. Somerset Mom was an English writer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

And this guy was popular, you know, churning out short stories for big bucks, the kind of career that

doesn't really exist for writers these days. Anyway, he spent some time traveling in Malaysia

back when it was under

the British Empire, and this is the jumping off point for Tan Tuan Ang's novel, The House of Doors.

And while it takes place in the rich and diverse island of Penang, Tan Twang Eng focuses mostly on

the point of view of the British characters. There's a part in this interview where MPR's R. Shapiro

asks him about it,

and, well, you know how there's always these debates about whose story gets told and how certain

identities are centered? I think he gives one of the most succinct and clear-ed answers on the

issue that I've heard in a while. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around

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The author, Tantuan Ang, writes historical fiction set in Malaysia, the country where he was raised. His newest novel,

The House of Doors, revolves around a famous British author who spent time traveling in the region.

The short story writer W. Somerset Maum, known to his friends, as Willie. The House of Doors has already made the long list for this year's Booker Prize, and Tantuan Ang is here to talk with us about it.

Welcome to All Things Considered.

Hello there. It's very good to be here to talk to you all.

This is the second novel that you have said on the island of Penang off the west coast of Malaysia,

and you live there part-time.

For people who have never been there, give us a sense of what it's like

...