Lilian is a girl born into a middle-class family, the eldest of two children. Her father is strict, her mother a bit of a dreamer. Lilian herself dreams of acceptance and greatness, however her actions to win favour work against her. As she grows up, she enters a mental institution, and when she leaves she ends up as an eccentric bag lady, quoting Shakespeare.
I wouldn't say that this book was enjoyable, but it is a very moving tale. At times you feel that she is aware of how people perceive her i.e. as a madwoman, and that if she wants to she can choose to conform. However conformity would make her forgettable, as she is not as pretty, graceful or elegant as her peers. And so Lilian chooses to be happy and optimistic in her own way despite all that life throws in her wake.
The tale reminds me of a peripheral character from my childhood - a woman roaming the streets of my mother's hometown of Pasir Mas. Whenever we passed by the shophouses of the old town, we would spot her standing on the sidewalk, laughing alone with her head full of hair thrown back. I could tell that she was once beautiful, and now I wonder what stories she would have to tell if one were to ask, or what misfortunes had befallen her to drive her to such a state.
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