Lead Review

  • Book: Singapore Love Stories
  • Location: Singapore
  • Author: Verena Tay

Review Author: tripfiction

Location

Content

This is a compendium of short stories, featuring the myriad, sparkling and darker permutations of love. All set in Singapore. There are little snippets of life in Singapore sprinkled liberally throughout the beautifully put together stories, all different, and all interesting.

Screen Shot 2017-01-30 at 14.20.52This little tome would be a good read to enjoy on a flight into the island city-state, the stories are wonderfully varied and entertaining and would definitely get a traveller in the mood to explore. Many cultures, religions and people meld together to make this a special place and the diversity is reflected in the narratives.

Each story is penned by a different author, each story is individual – from ghostly interventions, to the relationship one could have with ATM machines. The stories are populated by the peoples and cultures of this multiethnic city, from the Westerners to the elderly Chinese men with sweatbands and bamboo sticks who are described as powering “along the path outside, chanting vocal breath exercises as they went.” (I have certainly seen them on a visit to the city!). Clarke Quay, Chinatown, Orchard Road, these stories can be set nowhere other than Singapore.

Singapore itself conjures up the “cool image of palm trees and pineapples, of white sandy beaches. Of refuge and peace”.

There’s Nicole who is very practical about whether she should marry her much elder beau – conditioned as she is by her family and society. Charlotte caring for her grandmother now she is in her twilight years… and Jon Gresham (no, not John Grisham, but they do share the same profession of lawyer) talks about falling in love with a young woman at his intern firm. He ends up taking the challenge to ride a bicycle into the ocean to show his commitment (you will have to read the book to see why he is driven to these extreme measures). And many more literary delights waiting to be discovered. All built around love and specifically love in the wonderful city of Singapore.

Back to book

Sign up to receive our e-newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.