Minke is a young Javanese student of great intelligence, sensitivity, and ambition. The son of a noble Javanese, he moves easily among the Dutch and their ideas and language but is prevented from enjoying their rights. He also falls desperately in love with the beautiful Indo-European Annelies, and it is through her and her extraordinary family that Minke finds the strength to embrace his world—⁠—the world of Indonesia—⁠—and all its beauty and possibility, brutality and anger.

PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER was born on the island of Java in 1925. He was imprisoned first by the Dutch for his role in the Indonesian revolution, then by the Indonesian government as a political prisoner. Many of his works were written during this period, including the Buru Quartet, which was conceived in stories the author told to other prisoners during his confinement on Buru Island.