The Unrepentant: Short Stories 💚🤍

By Sharmini Aphrodite.

Every so often a book arrives that quietly takes hold of you. The Unrepentant did exactly that.

Set across decades of political upheaval in Malaya, these fourteen stories bring together desire, faith, ideology and the private moments that linger beneath the sweep of history.

What struck me most was how intimately Sharmini Aphrodite writes about revolution by focusing on the people who lived it. Not the figureheads or the distant names in textbooks, but the ones who loved, doubted, grieved and carried on with the ordinary rhythms of daily life while extraordinary change unfurled around them.

The book moves from the dense warmth of the jungle to the small rooms of shophouse flats where ideas were debated and futures imagined. Characters slip between roles. A guerilla draws a priest into the cause. A translator questions the language that shapes the revolution. A tin miner falls in love. A brother dreams of becoming Malaysia’s first cosmonaut.

Each story feels both grounded and lyrical, written in a way that is careful and intentional and gives the sense that the prose itself knows how to breathe.

I was taken by the choice to avoid naming characters, instead using terms of endearment and familiar expressions. This gives the stories a sense of universality while still keeping them personal.

It places the focus on emotion, identity and the small details that make us human, from religion and family ties to the collective ideals that bind communities together. It also lends the writing a lovely feeling of closeness, as if you are being allowed to listen in on the quiet truths that do not appear in official accounts.

Throughout the collection there is a tenderness that caught me off guard. These characters are surrounded by uncertainty and often gripped by a kind of preemptive grief, yet Aphrodite writes their emotions with grace and dignity. Memories become anchors. A last look at a family home. The familiar heaviness of humid air. The feel of a community left behind. These moments carry such sensory depth that you can almost touch them.

The research and dedication behind the book are clear, and the inclusion of this note helps bridge the gap between history and the imaginative spaces where these characters live.

The Unrepentant is a moving and beautifully crafted book that surprised me with its quiet power. It brought to life a period of history I knew little about and did so with writing full of heart. I finished the final page wanting to read more from Sharmini Aphrodite as soon as possible.

Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of the book! The book is out now and available to purchase.

Buy the book here.