The Stone Buddha's Tears — S.P. Somtow

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 of speak the truth in a world in which adults have forgotten how.