Violence, money and melodrama are the volatile ingredients of The Rape of Sukreni. Written in the 1930s by AA Pandji Tisna, the novel was not published until 1947. It is considered an Indonesian classic, portraying Balinese-Hindu notions of karma with the impact of modern commerce on Balinese society as its main theme. Even more compelling today than when it was first published, The Rape of Sukreni offers a unique and dark view of the island’s future that violently challenges the Bali’s conventional image as a paradise full of artists and tourists. Anak Agung Pandji Tisna fulfilled his long-cherished ambition to become a writer by publishing Ni Rawit: Marriage Broker and Human Trafficking in 1935. This was soon followed by The Rape of Sukreni, I Swasta: A Year in Bedahulu, and Dewi Karuna: A Path of the Wanderer.

Translated by: George Quinn