Eating Fire and Drinking Water

Ambitious and self-conscious, the second novel (after The Last Time I Saw Mother) from popular, Philippine-born Australian novelist Chai features Clara Perez, a journalist orphaned as an infant, who discovers that her personal history makes an interesting story of its own. Clara is struggling to make a name for herself as a reporter on an unnamed island reminiscent of the Philippines when a student riot starts a deadly fire in an obscure part of town. Sensing a story, Clara investigates and finds that her roots (hidden by the nuns who took her into their orphanage) are irrevocably entwined with the events and lives now unfolding before her. Though interspersed with amusing and occasionally absorbing tales, the novel's awkward pacing and confusing structure hinder our appreciation of Clara's quest for identity. Clara herself is hard to grasp: she and the rest of the cast seem to exist mostly in order to advance the plot, in which a growing rebellion looms large. Add to these problems a point of view that skips from major to minor characters without taking the time to round them out, and one is left with a muddle. In one of several apologies to the reader, Clara says: ""There are many memories here, and if I jump about in recounting them, you must forgive me."" One can admire Chai's attempt to write a far-reaching and deeply personal story; but her diffuse narrative, despite its moments of engagement, lacks dramatic effect. (June)