THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE AUNTIES

At a chaotic celebration outside Jakarta, where Meddy’s extended family has gathered to celebrate Chinese New Year, a red gift packet containing the title deed to a valuable parcel of land in downtown Jakarta that Abraham Lincoln Irawan, who’s long carried a torch for Second Aunt Enjelin Chan, has earmarked for his creditor Julia Child Handoko, accidentally ends up in the hands of one of Meddy’s cousins. Learning of the mishap, Julia Child—a rival businessperson who’s the perfectly law-abiding head of a conglomerate, not another triad leader, Abi blandly assures Meddy—pressures the family to recover the deed by imprisoning Nathan Chan, Meddy’s new husband. It’s a testimony to the size of that family gathering that the discovery of a photograph showing the gift recipient kicks off a lively discussion of who she is and that the identification of the young woman in the photo with her as Annabelle leads to a further discussion of whose daughter she is. Because Rochelle, the friend of Annabelle who ended up with the deed, is the granddaughter of Kristofer Kolumbes Hermansah, a third absolutely legitimate businessperson, the family’s attempt to retrieve it from Annabelle leads to still further complications. As the pot boils, the tone remains light and the frantic complications rollicking, though the four aunties, Meddy’s mother and her three sisters, make a much less powerful impression individually than as a group.