In Child of All Nations, the reader is immediately swept up by a story that is profoundly feminist, devastatingly anticolonialist—and full of heartbreak, suspense, love, and fury. Pramoedya immerses the reader in a world that is astonishing in its vividness: the cultural whirlpool that was the Dutch East Indies of the 1890s. A story of awakening, it follows Minke, the main character of This Earth of Mankind, as he struggles to overcome the injustice all around him. Pramoedya's full literary genius is evident in the brilliant characters that populate this world: Minke's fragile Mixed-Race wife; a young Chinese revolutionary; an embattled Javanese peasant and his impoverished family; the French painter Jean Marais, to name just a few. The story follows Minke, a young Javanese boy, as he navigates the complexities of colonial Indonesia in the early 20th century. Minke's journey takes him from his rural village to the city, where he attends a prestigious Dutch-run school. He faces cultural, social, and political challenges, shaping his identity and worldview. "Child of All Nations" is the second book in Pramoedya's Buru Quartet series, preceded by "This Earth of Mankind" and followed by "Footsteps" and "House of Glass". About the Author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, born on the island of Java in 1925, was imprisoned first by the Dutch, then by the Indonesian government as a political prisoner. He received the PEN Freedom to Write Award and the Ramon Magsaysay Award.