One and a half years ago, Indonesian writer Jesse Q. Sutanto landed the literary surprise hit Dial A for Aunties. For the hilarious combination of romantic comedy and murder mystery, Jesse was awarded the United Kingdom’s Comedy Women in Print prize. At the same time, Netflix picked it up for a film adaptation. 

But Jesse is not one to remain idle. This year alone, she followed up Four Aunties and a Wedding with the children’s book Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit and published the young adult novel Well, That Was Unexpected on Sept. 27 through Delacorte Press.

While some may struggle to switch between genres constantly, Jesse is clearly up for the challenge and enjoys writing for readers of all ages.

“I don’t ‘dumb things down’ [when working on a young adult novel]. I simply shift the focus and ask myself, what would a teen care about vs. what would a 25-year-old care about?” she said. 

“Teens would be occupied with school and friends and have more boundaries set by parents, whereas adults are most likely concerned about their career paths and maybe finding a partner to settle down with. These things naturally shape the story.”

In Well, That Was Unexpected, we meet Sharlot Citra, a teenager who has lived in Los Angeles, the United States, all her life – until she is caught red-handed in a rather R-rated situation by her mother. Without losing any time, Sharlot’s mother quickly decides to take her to her native Indonesia for the summer holidays. It’s the first time Sharlot sets foot in Jakarta. 

At the same time, George Tanuwijaya’s father is concerned about Indonesia’s capital. As the only son, George is poised to take over the family business someday, but he seems to have lost his way. 

The two worried single parents have the same crazy idea: setting up a fake account for their children on a social media platform. Sharlot and George soon start chatting with each other, but of course, it is their parents who do the talking. Appalled by their action, Sharlot and George have no intention of ever meeting face to face, and yet, through a series of unexpected events, they are thrown together and whisked away on a short trip to Bali. 

As they get to know each other better, they keep wondering: How can someone be so devastatingly wrong online and yet so understanding and approachable in real life?

“I’ve always wanted to set a story in Indonesia,” said Jesse when asked about her inspiration for Sharlot and George’s turbulent romance. “It’s a beautiful place with amazing culture and history.”

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At the same time, she added, the idea for the young adult novel was a bit of a spin-off from her Aunties series. Indeed, one can find similar elements in both books – the meddlesome families and parents who are catfishing the dates – with the significant difference that Well, That Was Unexpected doesn’t include a dead body, which was probably a wise choice, considering the target audience.

“It’s like Dial A for Aunties but with a focus on the romance and discovering the beauty of Indonesia,” Jesse explained. 

Told alternately from both Sharlot and George’s points of view, it’s mostly Sharlot’s chapters that introduce an international readership to Indonesia’s beauty, richness and quirks. The reader also follows Sharlot as she discovers her roots with wondering eyes and a pang of guilt because it took her so long to connect to her mother’s home – and her home, by default – in the first place.

Even though Jesse spent her teenage years in Singapore, attending a strict all-girls Catholic school, she can relate to Sharlot. 

“I came back to Indonesia [from Singapore] twice a year, and for the longest time, I felt like an outsider, much like Sharlot does in the book.”

After graduating high school, Jesse moved to the UK and studied creative writing at Oxford University. Almost a decade ago, she moved back to Jakarta, where she still lives today with her English husband, her two daughters and a heap of relatives nearby, a constant source of inspiration for her books.

“I think when it comes to comedic stories, I will probably stick with similar family dynamics and meddlesome parents,” she says. 

“I grew up in a huge family with meddlesome parents, so writing humorously about them comes naturally. But I’m finding that I’m staying away from the large families in my dark suspense stories. I have an adult suspense [novel] coming out next year, called I’m Not Done With You Yet, which focuses on how isolated the characters feel.”

While humor and comedy dominate Well, That Was Unexpected, often resulting in laugh-out-loud moments, the book also offers tender and reflective moments that will no doubt be familiar to many teenagers. It cleverly evokes the difficulty of finding your path during your formative years, the weight of familial expectations on one’s shoulders and the incomparable flutter, confusion and joy of falling in love for the first time.

The book also features many lovable supporting characters, with George’s younger sister Eleanor and Sharlot’s cousin Kiki providing the best one-liners and becoming true scene-stealers every time they appear. 

“I’m so excited to share that the second book will be about Kiki, and Eleanor will play a big part in it! It’s called Didn’t See That Coming and will be out sometime next year.”

Well, That Was Unexpected

By Jesse Q. Sutanto

Published by Delacorte Press

384 pages

Language: English