“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”
Pip, a blacksmith’s apprentice goes from humble beginnings in the marshes of Kent to the bustling streets of Victorian London. A chance encounter with the escaped convict Magwitch sets off a series of events that lead Pip to the eccentric Miss Havisham and her captivating ward, Estella.
In his pursuit of becoming a gentleman to win Estella’s affection, Pip grapples with his own self-worth and the impact of his humble origins.
Pip must unravel the complexities of his own identity and in the bustling 19th century London his idealistic ambitions are threatened by dominating class difference.
Charles Dickens’ riveting and thought-provoking novel raises profound questions about human worth and the pursuit of success in a rapidly changing world.
“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”
Catherine Morland is a seventeen-year-old romantic at heart, fond of reading Gothic novels. One weekend she is invited by friends to spend a season in Bath, and for the first time participates in glamorous balls unique to the nineteenth century London lifestyle.
So it happens, at one ball she meets the intriguing and wealthy Henry Tilney, her over-active imagination leads her to expect dramatic twists at every turn.
However, the truth turns out to be far more complicated and lot more mundane; and love happens to be a lot simpler than her novel obsessed young heart had imagined. Will the reality be a disappointment or sweet relief for her? Young Catherine goes through many self-induced trials to learn the simple lesson of life.
“Drama is to life what ships are to the sea. A means to traverse it. To plumb its depths, breadth, and beauty.”
At the age of ten years old, Fanny Price was removed from her poverty stricken home to live with her rich cousins in Mansfield Park. Fanny was beautiful but not seeking beauty, quite but not weak, sensible but not proud. The residents of Mansfield couldn’t get themselves to show her the fondness she deserved. In the midst of it, she had only one ally in her cousin Edmund.
When the cousins grow older, suddenly the Crawfords family takes residence in the neighbourhood, and the sister-brother duo set off events of romantic encounters and heartbreak.
Will Fanny defend her bonds and protect the life she has built in Mansfield Park? Will she hide her love for Edmund or come forth?
Mansfield Park is touted as Austen’s most mature and sensitive novel, mostly in credit to her heroin who is both sensitive and brave.
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk and show it more.”
In the world of Emma, love, self-discovery, and matchmaking intertwine in a charming countryside town. Emma is Austen’s most vivid heroine : beautiful, spoilt, generous, and exceptionally witty.
While caring for her demanding father, life in the quaint town becomes tiresome. Seeking amusement, Emma immerses herself in the art of matchmaking, set to unite her orphaned friend, Harriet Smith with the eligible clergyman Mr. Elton.
However, her astute neighbor, Mr. Knightley calls her out for seeking her own interest and not her friend’s. Both Emma and Mr.Knightly are attracted to one another, primarily because only they can match each other’s wit and intelligence.
Emma’s path towards maturity and self-awareness is a poignant story. A captivating exploration of personal growth, as she navigates the consequences of her meddling.
Singaporeans found themselves having to navigate livelihoods and relationships in unexpected tragicomic ways. Siblings would turn out to be lifelong enemies, money—or rather the lack of it—a crippling nightmare, love an ever posture of deception, wild gossip the coup de grâce. In spite of it all, the unforeseen, even death itself, would every so often become a flint for courage and redemption for some, especially Tin, a brave teenage girl who continued to defy familial odds, and Mona, a widow-turned-prostitute who was forced to thwart her own expectations.
Equal parts inspired by real-life anecdotes and borne of imagination, this story promises to lay bare the struggles and aspirations of those living in an era and a place unwittingly defined by societal taboos and quirky traditions that have long vanished from the face of contemporary Singapore. Ultimately, this is the story of what it means to be human when fate decides to take a leap.
The Koro Riots is a satire regarding the political struggle in an imaginary country called Hujung Manani, a former French colony in South East Asia. Its leader, Priapus, is a dictator. His wife Datin Lotis, uses black magic, namely the power of a weretiger. The narrative revolves around the Koro epidemic which occurs in this republic. It is a mental illness which affects men who believe that their penis shrinks into their body and disappears. The koro epidemic causes several small incidents, which later turn into riots. Eventually, the rebellion becomes a revolution, and the population of Hujung Manani overthrows the Dictator and his wife. These incidents are told from a variety of perspectives while adding background stories about politics in Hujung Manani. For this, the novel introduce several ‘disposable’ characters such as Kadir Mohamed, the former Editor in Chief of the Hujung Manani Tribune; Ashraf Wahidi, a celebrity preacher; and Psychiatrist Dr Cakravantin. The Dictator also has to face his political enemy who is the protagonist, named Pertiwi. She is a feminist, and in her nineties still succeeds in overthrowing Priapus, assisted by a Scientist (Badang) and Shulamit, his Jewish wife. At the end Pertiwi is killed by a suicide bomber named Zikir Baik while delivering a speech in the style of Martin Luther King. The struggle for democracy is carried on by Badang. However, Hujung Manani still faces threats posed by traitors like the Tycoon who is involved in a deep state.
A story told in three parts, Teacher Narit is a historical novel centering on the main protagonist, Narit, a mysterious civil war veteran who escaped the capital in the 70s to start a new life as a history teacher in northern Thailand.
Once a young, idealistic postgraduate student and activist during one of Thailand’s blackest periods, The 14th October 1973 revolution, Narit embarked on a turbulent relationship that led him to battling a war of conscience, love and political allegiance; a war that ended in pain and disillusion for both him and his family-leaving him embittered, running from his past.
However, it is in northern Thailand, that a chance encounter with his first love forces him to confront his demons, and Narit is made to choose between seeking forgiveness or fleeing once more.
Northern Malaya, 1825. Princess Toh has been left in charge of the palace while her brother is away fighting, but her violent husband is causing trouble in her court. Meanwhile, Aashif, who was trekking through the jungle, stumbles upon a girl who has been brutally assaulted and left to die. Back at the palace, the traumatised young man decides to escape and seek freedom; together with Princess Toh’s maid, he sets out on a perilous journey. Distraught at this news, Toh pledges to do anything she can to bring the runaways home – even if that means resorting to help from the magical spirits that guard the kingdom. And all the while, a murderer is on the loose…
The Last Great Love Song is a magical tale of secrets and lies, a bewitching story that will convince the reader of the power of love – and magic.
Malaysia in the 1960s. A newly independent nation, full of early promise.
On the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, young Ah Tat dreams of a life beyond the kampong. Earnest, bookish and a little naïve, he sees his path clearly: he will study hard at the Methodist school, enter university and one day become a man of consequence. It is his duty to guide his wayward cousin, the darkly charismatic KC, on a similar path to success. But when KC’s fascination with the local triads results in his sudden disappearance, Ah Tat is left with nothing but questions and regrets.
Years later, the estranged cousins are reunited in a much-changed country. Ah Tat, now a successful engineer and future captain of industry, discovers KC has become a powerful underworld figure. Vowing to haul his cousin back from the moral abyss, he is instead drawn into an escalating rivalry with KC as the two men vie for wealth, status, influence and the love of the enigmatic June Teh.
But could a bizarre weather event stay the inevitable reckoning?
The Snow in Kuala Lumpur is a tale of two men-fierce adversaries who ought to have been brothers-and two peoples, the Malays and Chinese, who forged a new nation while walking the thin line between kinship and a destructive rivalry.
EVERY DAY of the years of a murderous occupation, Simone has kept her head down, living and working in the peaceful surroundings of the Botanical Gardens ignoring the horrors that lie outside, waiting for it all to end.
UNTIL TODAY, when a blue feather reminds her of lost friends and sends her on a quest which can lead them all into disaster.
Against the clock and with a Japanese officer on their trail, seven young women are called on to rekindle their bonds of loyalty and trust to save the child of one of their own.
