{"product_id":"welcome-me-to-the-kingdom-by-mai-nardone-9781838958299","title":"Welcome Me to the Kingdom","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBangkok, 1980. As the decades pass, figures fall in and out of the relentless city: Pea and Nam, who arrive in search of a better life; a Thai Elvis impersonator and his only daughter, Pinky; Benz, Tintin, and Big, a brotherhood of orphaned stray boys; Rick, the white American patriarch who abandons his Thai family when the going gets tough; Hasmah, whose bloody, hidden work is driven by secessionist rage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSex tourism, Buddhist cults, gambling rings, and skin-whitening routines threaten to take over a city reeling from financial crisis—in a nation constantly reinventing itself, anything can happen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the temples, slums, and gated estates of late-twentieth century Bangkok, \u003cem\u003eWelcome Me to the Kingdom\u003c\/em\u003e exposes the schemes and strategies, the lies and betrayals, that inch its characters tantalisingly closer to 'the good life'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWildly imaginative and ambitious, Mai Nardone's immersive debut announces the arrival of an extraordinary new voice, and captures the growing discrepancy between Thailand's smiling self-image and its ugly reverse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSeen through a haze of covert agreements and cigarette smoke, these unforgettable stories capture a kingdom caught between this world and the next.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46847097733356,"sku":"9781838958299","price":36.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/20567813482842.jpg?v=1758932192","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/welcome-me-to-the-kingdom-by-mai-nardone-9781838958299","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}