The Stone Buddha's Tears

S.P. Somtow's novel The Stone
Buddha's Tears was inspired by
a real-life incident in 1991
in which the city of Bangkok,
about to host an international
conference, decided to throw up
a corrugated iron fence around a
slum in order to conceal it from the
passing delegates.

In this fantasy novel of innocence
and hope, the lives of two boys
from opposite ends of the social
spectrum intersect because of
the wall. The protagonist, a
beggar known only as "Boy",
meets a novice monk whose
father, a corrupt politician, has
sent him to a monastery in order
to provide a picture-perfect photo-op
for his election campaign.

Between them the two boys
concoct a team of street kids,
tazi drivers and elephant herders
in a wild plan to bring down
the adult world's dark alliance
between organized crime and
politics.

The Stone Buddha's Tears is a
powerful story about friendship,
class and society, and the power
of children to speak the truth
in a world in which adults have
forgotten how.


Genre: Children's Fiction