A Different Sky

Description

A dazzling novel telling the history of Singapore through the moving stories of three families whose lives become intertwined. Singapore - a trading post where different lives jostle and mix. It is 1927, and three young people are starting to question whether this inbetween island can ever truly be their home. Mei Lan comes from a famous Chinese dynasty but yearns to free herself from its stifling traditions; ten-year-old Howard seethes at the indignities heaped on his fellow Eurasians by the colonial British; Raj, fresh off the boat from India, wants only to work hard and become a successful businessman. As the years pass, and the Second World War sweeps through the east, with the Japanese occupying Singapore, the three are thrown together in unexpected ways, and tested to breaking point. Richly evocative, A Different Sky paints a scintillating panorama of thirty tumultuous years in Singapore's history through the passions and struggles of characters the reader will find it hard to forget.

The author of seven previous novels, Meira Chand is of Indian-Swiss parentage. Born and educated in London, she has lived most of her adult life in Japan, apart from some time in India during the seventies. In 1997 she moved to Singapore. She is involved in several programmes to mentor young writers in Singapore, and has recently been writer in residence at Mansfield College, Oxford and also at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.

This extraordinary book traces the island's story through to 1956 and independence ... I thoroughly recommend it * Daily Mail * An exotic, challenging, and heartbreaking novel. -- Hong Ying, author of Daughter of the River this meticulously researched book is alive with engrossing detail, whether on the odour of Chinatown, the privations of a guerilla camp or the appalling rituals of foot binding. -- Mayi Jaggi * Guardian * This exciting and well-written book describes the city as a meeting point between east and west. What a fascinating place! * Waterstone's Book Quarterly *