Introduction to The Curse

SYNOPSIS

In this novel, “the Curse”, it is a story of the return of a young Malay girl to her village after leaving the confines of her traditional family to study in London. But her return to the village has revealed a series of gossips regarding her sister’s death, challenges that are at times frustrating, stifling, confusing, frightening and also an endless series of mysteries.

The story of “the Curse” focuses on the main character by the name of Azreen Salleh who returns home to Pulau Langkawi to mourn the loss of her elder sister, Madhuri. Azreen who is currently studying in London, receives news from home that her sister has passed away. She immediately makes her return to the hometown, a small island near Langkawi. Upon arriving home, Azreen is grappled with a lot of challenges like how her own mother hardly recognizes her and how her own father seems to detest her existence. Her only consolation and place to seek comfort is with the Old Lady, a character who is rejected by all the villagers but is treated by Azreen as her second mother. A series of bizarre events in the village leave Azreen puzzled and she is determined to get to the bottom of her sister’s mysterious death after she knows that her sister could have been murdered and the crime is covered. Azreen does not believe the gossip surrounding her sister’s death nor the rumours about the curse that has befallen the village. Therefore, she single-mindedly pursues the mysteries until the truth is finally revealed…

PLOT

The plot is divided into 12 chapters with events that are summarized into 5 main parts.

Exposition (Chapters 1 – 4)

Azreen was informed of Madhuri’s death and had to fly back to Malaysia from London. She was not looking forward to returning home as she knew she did not fit in with her family and the villagers. Once there, nobody was willing to tell Azreen what had actually happened to her sister but the rumour among the villagers, especially from the village gossip, Puan Normala, was that Madhuri had been murdered. Her blood had been white and that was a clear indication that the village had been cursed.

Rising Action (Chapters 5 – 7)

Azreen found out from her confidante, the Old Lady who lived in the jungle that Madhuri had been murdered. The Old Lady was treated as an outcast by the villagers because she had killed her husband. Meanwhile Azreen’s father, continued with his distant and angry approach towards her. So Azreen could only rely on her friendships with the Old Lady and Mohd Asraf who was a good friend of her when they were at school, to seek comfort and support. To make things worse, strange things kept happening to Azreen and she felt certain that she saw someone who resembled Madhuri lurking around her house.

Climax (Chapters 8 – 10)

Rain fell continuously in the village for several days. Drains and riverbanks were on the verge of overflowing, crops were drowned by the rising waters and a sickness seemed to be spreading among the villagers. People wondered if a curse had really been placed upon them. Asraf’s grandmother also fell ill and in desperate attempt to save her, he went to the Old Lady for help despite the fact that he was afraid of her. The rest of the villagers protested against the presence of the Old Lady in their village. But she helped Asraf’s grandmother to recover. However, his grandmother passed away shortly after the Old Lady’s visit. Overcome with grief and influence by the other villagers to take revenge on the Old Lady whom they accused of having poisoned his grandmother, Asraf led a group of men to the Old Lady’s house. In an attempt to prevent Asraf from entering the Old Lady’s house, Azreen stabbed his foot with a spade. Asraf accidentally dropped his torch and set the Old Lady’s house of fire. The Old Lady was trapped inside and died.

Falling Action (Chapters 10 – 11)

Azreen lashed out at Asraf for acting in haste. Asraf was regretful and in his remorse, he told the truth that people that were close to him had left him one by one – first was Madhuri and lastly was his grandmother. Azreen felt shocked at the fact and persisted in getting the truth from Asraf. Asraf divulged the truth that he and Madhuri had been in love and that Madhuri was leaving her husband for him. Azreen was devastated by the news and ran to a place where she met the ‘bomoh’. Then Azreen received another setback when the ‘bomoh’ told her that Madhuri was adopted and her real mother was still alive. It had been Madhuris mother that the villagers had been seeing and whom they had mistaken as the spirit of Madhuri.

Resolution (Chapters 11 – 12)

Azreen returned to her home, heart-broken and at that moment, she saw the long-haired woman who pointed endlessly at the pile of wood in her front yard. Her father, Saleh came home and removed the ‘parang’ from the pile of wood near their house. Azreen saw that it glistened with white sap. She thought back on how Madhuri’s blood was seen as white and connected it to the ‘parang’ that her father was holding. She suddenly realized that her father had killed Madhuri. When Azreen ran away from him, Madhuri’s mother took the ‘parang’ and walked towards Saleh. Saleh was terrified and suffered a fatal heart attack. After all the incidents, Azreen returned to London and left the village that brought so much hurt to her.