Anna Tan’s novel brings modern-day, relatable fantasy to streets of Penang’s George Town
Magic happens in the most unlikely places, and George Town, Penang is the last place you would look. But what do you know? After years of the George Town Literary Festival (GTLF), that is exactly what happened. Organically grown magic in the form of a teashop and a book.
I would not say it was December exactly (that is when the Christmas magic happens, but no, this is a different kind of magic). But right there, in the middle of a hot, humid day, a woman named Jasmine Teh, all tired, frazzled and burnt out from a job that was never really nine-to-five, just said, or thought, “enough is enough”. And quit.
Do you happen to remember the time when all the aunties and uncles would start asking if you had a girlfriend or boyfriend? Followed by the inevitable “When are you getting married, ah?” That “ah” was Jasmine’s life.
At 35, after 14 years of climbing the corporate ladder in a Big Four accounting firm, Jasmine found herself jobless (her choice), single (not her choice) and perhaps more importantly, wondering what exactly she had been doing with her life all these years.
Then, she stumbled onto a magical teashop on Lebuh Victoria. Now, you and I would have driven past that street many times, but was there ever a teashop, let alone a magical one? Yes, you read that right.
That is its actual name: The Magical Teashop. And no, this is not Diagon Alley, although it could very well be.
Anna Tan’s Jasmine and the Perfect Brew takes the familiar annoyances of being a single woman (career, marriage, family expectations and the eternal hunt for Mr Right) and drops them into a world of magical tea, potions and a dragon. Although, if you have spent enough time in Penang, you might argue that dragons do exist in this part of town. Oh and there is at least one creature you probably would not expect to encounter while wandering around George Town.
Having previously written fantasy fiction in her Absolution series, beginning with Amok and When Winds Blow Cold, the first book in her The Painted Hall series, Tan has also explored Malaysian folklore and magical storytelling through A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic, an anthology she edited in 2023. She also edited Love in Penang alongside her role as the primary editor of Nutmag, which is an annual zine featuring writers from Penang.
That aside, Jasmine ends up working at the teashop, brewing tea (duh!) and living with her estranged cousin Bryan, his purple-haired business partner Long, and two younger housemates, Sim and Rimau. And because this is Penang, even magic comes with paperwork. There is a Penang Magical Council and it wants everyone licensed.
What makes the book such fun is how the author throws all the ingredients into the kuali and stirs until it thickens into dodol. All over a low fire.
Underneath all the flighty magic lies a shadow that many of us struggle to recognise, let alone deal with. It took a while for Jasmine to see it too. And once she did, she was determined to catch the proverbial “shadow” by its toe and send it to the farthest corner of the universe. What happens when the life you have been told you should want is not necessarily the life you actually want? What if “settling down” is not the same thing as finding where you belong?
So, does Jasmine find her Mr Right in the end? It is worth finding out for yourself. But what I will say is that the book cares less about a Mills & Boon romance than about who won the F1 race at Sepang last month (no offence to F1 fans). For readers of this genre, that is probably just fine. In fact, it is more the sort of heartwarming read you would curl up with on a rainy day.
If you like your fantasy with epic battles, dark lords, burning villages, fae or rings and all that, you will not find them in this book. The dragon here is more likely to burn the kitchen down. And if you have ever sat through a Chinese New Year dinner being asked about your love life, you would have been in Jasmine’s shoes before. Daniel will naturally disagree with Jasmine, or you, for that matter. Wait a minute… Who is Daniel?
Anyway, Jasmine and the Perfect Brew is published by Watchful Wizard Publishing and will be available in bookstores nationwide after its launch at the GTLF on Nov 29. The official global release date is on Nov 24. Tan also just whispered to me that writing this 314-page book took her about five years, with a total rework of the opening, and that it will be on sale soon. And no, this book is not based on her life.
That said, I, for one, closed the book (actually, it was a PDF) believing that magic (and love) does exist in George Town. How serendipitous would it be to one day bump into Bryan, Long, Sim, Rimau and well, Jasmine too, at that magical teashop? So the next time you drive or walk down Lebuh Victoria, slow down a little. You will never know-lah who you might bump into.
So go ahead, get yourself tipsy over a little magic, a little love and lots of tea.