Kingdom of Make-Believe: A Novel of Thailand

Dean Barrett captures the seedy side of 1980s Thailand, when the wealth is pumping in and out through greedy and shady characters. The backdrop of the story is a tale of lost love between a man, his brother's widow and her daughter. The protagonist returns to Thailand after a long exit, expecting life to be similar to what he walked away from. Instead, he learns that you can never go home again, even in Asia. By the end, Brian Mason also realizes that the Thailand and people he remembered perhaps wasn't even as it really appeared the first time around.Barrett really captured the essence of Thailand, and the extoic and hypnotic effects it can have. His writing draws you in to the story, and you become compelled to finish it in just a few sittings.The only knock is characters that seem just a quarter shade from believable. A couple times I thought to myself, "They really wouldn't do that..." but perhaps that's because the characters were based on real people who don't act as we expect.

"In the fleeting moments of twilight they sat mesmerized with the crumbling remains of the abandoned temple and glimpsed the still-living soul of the kingdom." The author's descriptions of Ayudhya are really fine and sensitive. The plot of this book is also interesting. I bought the book in Bookazine in Bangkok and it made great reading on the plane back to the States. This is a kind of love story and mystery and murder set against the background of Thailand about a decade ago. It's the kind of book you don't want to end.

A finely crafted novel weaving the past with the present. The author's experience with Thailand is evident and gives the reader an excellent sense of time and place. Wonderful characterizations and dialogue. Brian Mason's search for the truth pits mother against daughter in a race to keep a secret that could threaten more than one relationship. This is a memorable read.

Kingdom of Make-Believe refers to the Thailand that people see and what is behind it. The author also has one of his characters mention a Kingdom of Make-Believe at her school where she allows the children to act out their fantasies. This is used very well at the end. This is obviously a very well thought out novel in which a New York editor receives a mysterious letter from his brother's widow (a woman he was once in love with) and that, plus business, sends him back to Thailand after 20 years. And things begin to happen: love, danger and lots of people with secrets to hide. A fine read.

The author obviously knows Thailand very well. It's a country of beautiful temples and smiling people on the facade but the novel explores what lies behind. Set in throbbing bars in steamy Bangkok, seedy sea-side town, Pattaya, and beautiful ruins of Ayudhya, this novel will offer great entertainment to anyone who's been to Thailand or interested in Thai culture. Exotic, always interesting and even comic at times, it makes an engrossing read throughout. It is defintely a page-tunrer.