Antonia Bernardin

The Aunties series by Jesse Q Sutanto was my 22nd, 24th and 25th read this year. This series is made of: Dial A for Aunties, Four Aunties and a Wedding and The Good, The Bad, The Aunties.

I had been told good things about this series by a friend and in an effort to read the books on my bookshelves this year rather than buying more, I decided it was time to give them a read.

A brief summary of each book

Dial A for Aunties

Meddilin comes from a big, loud and (well-meaning) interfering chinese-indonesian family. All her cousins chose not to stay with her Aunties, they went out of state for college and stayed away after but Meddi always gets praised for being such a ‘filial’ girl. Instead of setting out on her own after college she gives up the boy of her dreams and helps with the family wedding business as their photographer.

The night before the biggest wedding they’ve ever booked, her ma and Aunties set her up on a date with the supposed owner of the hotel they will be holding the wedding in. So, it’s kind of awkward when she accidentally kills him in self-defence. Never fear, the Aunties will step in to help. Through a series of calamities they take the body to the wedding, where he is carted all over the island, ending up in various precarious positions that nearly get them all found out… and to make matters worse, her dream boy is here and he’s the actual owner of the hotel!

Four Aunties and a Wedding

It’s Meddi’s dream wedding in Oxford, England but on top of the usual wedding stress and her over the top Aunties who’ve taken some dubious classes on British slang… there’s also her wedding vendors who claim to be mafia and are out to kill someone at her wedding. Somehow Meddi must get married without tipping anyone off that something is wrong, including the her husband-to-be or they will reveal her worst secret to the police. So, in come the Aunties to the rescue again! They do their best to work out who the target might be and protect them and take out the mafia crime family, all while looking their best in a mix of British fashion (big fascinator hats) and Indonesia sparkle (glittery komodo dragons in various personalised poses). What could possibly go wrong?

The Good, The Bad, The Aunties

Meddi is ending her long honeymoon with a visit to her Mom and Aunties’ home city of Jakarta for Lunar New year. But Fourth Aunt has a secret up her sleeve, she told second Aunt’s childhood sweetheart, turned supposed mafia boss, turned ‘legitimate business man’ they were visiting. So when he turns up with gifts and red money packets for all her family, it starts a chain of disastrous events. One basket of gifts wasn’t meant for them, it was meant for a ‘business’ rival and contained an important document. He insists they come and explain what happened to this rival but when they do, she keeps Meddi’s husband as ‘insurance’, to make them track it down. This forces them to cross paths with his other ‘business rival’ and things go from bad to worse. This time instead of being exasperated by her Aunties, Meddi is right there with them charging head-first to save her husband. Maybe they aren’t so bad after-all and maybe she’s more like them than she originally thought…

My thoughts on the series over-all

These books were.so.much.fun! I don’t know that much about Chinese-Indonesian Culture but I really enjoyed this glimpse into that world, especially one that was so fun and joyful. I loved the silly-ness of what the Aunties get up to, however implausible all the situations that happen are, it’s just this fun kind of ridiculousness that was so endearing. These books aren’t too long, they are fast-paced and you’ll absolutely fall in love with the characters. I read these on the sunny days we had in May and it was just the perfect vibe for that kind of day.