Revolt In Paradise

The true-life adventure of a Western woman who found happiness in Bali, then stayed on in Indonesia to help in the struggle for freedom.

The great-granddaughter of a witch from the Isle of Man, the adopted daughter of a Balinese rajah, hostess of one of the most glamorous hotels in the Far East, a prisoner of the Japanese for two horror-packed years and, as Surabaya Sue, an ardent supporter of the Indonesian revolution, K’tut Tantri is well acquainted with the unexpected. Adventure and courage run strong in her blood.

It was in a Hollywood movie theater that she first discovered Bali and knew it for the place where she belonged. She had hoped to live and paint there quietly among the island’s simple people, but destiny, in the form of a stalled car and a delightful young prince, took a hand and revised her plans. She was formally adopted by the prince’s father, and...though she came to know the peasants of the Balinese kampongs, she knew also, and intimately, the life of a Balinese palace with all its ritual and tradition.

This world lasted for only a few years. With war come the Japanese, presumably as deliverers overthrowing Dutch rule but in reality as tyrants. K’tut Tantri stayed on to join the underground movement agitating for Indonesian independence, and was eventually captured, imprisoned, tortured. Then with the end of hostilities she chose once again to ally herself with the Indonesians—this time in their resistance against the British and the returning Dutch. A friend of the leaders around Sukarno, she was instrumental in getting the Indonesian story to the outside world, and on several occasions she lent herself to enterprises requiring the combined talents of Mata Hari and T E. Lawrence.

K’tut Tantri has an observant eye, an understanding knowledge, and she writes with spirit. Her story is a deeply moving personal drama and a vivid commentary on a period of crucial change in an ancient, romantic country.