kumala

Soeraja is dying and calls for Jeng Yah, a woman who is not his wife, shocking his three sons -- Lebas, Karim and Tegar -- heirs to Kretek Djagad Raja, Indonesia’s largest clove cigarette empire. Their mother is consumed by jealousy as the brothers embark on a quest to find Jeng Yah and uncover the truth about their family business and its secrets.

Cigarette Girl is more than a love story and the soul-searching journey of three brothers. Set on the island of Java, the story follows the evolution of a family’s kretek, or clove cigarette, business, introducing readers to three generations of Indonesia’s history through cloves and unrequited love.

Ratih Kumala is an acclaimed Indonesian author based in Jakarta. Her debut novel, Tabula Rasa, won the Jakarta Art Council Novel Competition in 2003, and she has published six more novels and short story collections since then. Her novel Gadis Kretek (Cigarette Girl) has been translated into six languages and adapted into a Netflix original series.