Revenge Murder in Three Parts by S L Lim

In the follow-up to her debut Real Differences, Sydney-viaSingapore author S L Lim presents a slow-burn thriller that rages against capitalism, hetero-supremacy, class divides and family.

Revenge sees Yannie, having suffered since birth at the hands of her psychopathic older brother, Shan, and parents who catered to his every whim, fighting for her right to be desired, seen and understood in a world determined to push her down. The book traces her life from a young age, facing physical and mental abuse from Shan, which her parents gaslight her about, to adolescence where she has a fleeting unrequited love for a fellow student, Shuying, and finally to adulthood where she is forced to work in her family shop and care for her ailing parents. Meanwhile, Shan studies abroad and eventually finds fortune in Australia. When her parents finally die, Yannie ventures to Australia to assert herself in Shan’s life and destroy it from the inside.

Those expecting a button-down thriller might be disappointed. The tension in Revenge is slow and subtle, taking somewhat of a back seat in favour of Yannie discovering herself in spite of the institutional, patriarchal and family pressures. But there is still plenty of tension to be found in the slow plotting of the novel, as Yannie, seemingly with nothing to lose, weaves her way further into her brother’s life.

As the multi-faceted inequalities of capitalism and colonialism become clearer every day, Revenge is a passionate protest in book form. It couldn’t have dropped at a more apt time. A wonderfully cathartic and prescient read for these times. 

Reviewed by Max Lewis