Fiction

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Temple Folk

Across generations of Black Muslim life in America, ten interconnected worlds of faith, family, and belonging unfold. A daughter haunted by her father’s ghost struggles to reconcile his legacy with the truth; a mother caring for her disabled son revisits a life-altering experience; and a federal agent spying on a prominent member of the Nation of Islam confronts the contradictions of his own life. Set against the complex social and spiritual landscape of Black Muslim communities, these stories explore the tension between religious conviction and human imperfection, tradition and independence, and the desire to belong and the need to question. With compassion, subtle humour, and remarkable insight, Temple Folk offers an intimate portrait of people navigating the distance between who they believe they should be and who they really are.

United States 2023

My Dreadful Body

My Dreadful Body

Egana Djabbarova

In My Dreadful Body, Egana Djabbarova explores what it means to grow up as a woman in a traditional Azerbaijani family in Russia, where a woman’s body is shaped by cultural expectations, religious beliefs, and the prospect of marriage. As the narrator develops a mysterious neurological condition that causes pain, involuntary movements, and speech difficulties, her body becomes both a source of suffering and a lens through which she examines her identity. Organised into chapters devoted to different body parts, the novel weaves together intimate memories, family traditions, and reflections on gender, illness, and belonging. The narrator confronts the rules imposed on women across generations, as well as the cultural tensions of living between Azerbaijani and Russian identities. Lyrical and deeply personal, this debut novel explores how physical vulnerability can challenge social expectations and open a path towards self-determination.

Venice Requiem

Khalid Lyamlahy

On a cold January day in 2017, a young Gambian refugee named Pateh Sabally drowns in Venice’s Grand Canal while tourists and passers-by watch. Some even hurl insults at him. Horrified by this tragedy, a young writer sets out to reconstruct Pateh’s final days and understand the circumstances that led to his death. Moving through Venice’s literary history, from Thomas Mann to Marcel Proust, the narrator confronts an uncomfortable question: what does it mean to celebrate beauty and culture while turning away from human suffering? Blending fiction, investigation, and literary reflection, Khalid Lyamlahy offers a powerful meditation on migration, racism, indifference, and the moral responsibility of witnessing another person’s pain. Venice Requiem is both a tribute to a forgotten life and an indictment of a society that too often fails to recognise the humanity of those on its margins.

The Cursed Friend

The Cursed Friend

Beatrice Salvioni

Italy, 1935. Francesca is a respectable girl from a bourgeois family, but she longs for a life beyond the suffocating rules of her small town. Her attention is drawn to Maddalena, a fearless outsider whom everyone calls the Cursed One. When Francesca lies to protect her, an unexpected friendship begins—one that will challenge everything she has been taught about obedience, morality, and what it means to be a girl. As fascism tightens its grip on Italy, the two friends confront prejudice, violence, and a society determined to keep women in their place. Fierce and emotionally charged, this novel explores the transformative power of female friendship and the courage it takes to resist injustice.

Discontent

Beatriz Serrano

Marisa appears to have everything she should want: a beautiful apartment in central Madrid, a promising career at an advertising agency, and a convenient arrangement with her attractive neighbour. In reality, she despises her job, finds her colleagues unbearable, and struggles to discover any meaning in her carefully constructed life. She spends her working hours hiding from coworkers, watching YouTube videos, and taking tranquillizers to cope with the relentless monotony of corporate existence. Her carefully maintained professional image, built partly on lies and other people’s work, begins to crumble when she is forced to attend a company team-building retreat. Surrounded by manipulative bosses, irritating colleagues, and artificial attempts at bonding, Marisa approaches a personal breaking point. Through biting humour and uncomfortable honesty, Beatriz Serrano captures the alienation of a generation that followed society’s promises of success only to find itself exhausted and unfulfilled. Discontent is a darkly comic exploration of workplace burnout, loneliness, and the desperate desire to escape a life that looks successful from the outside but feels empty within.

When the Museum is Closed

When the Museum is Closed

Rika Horauchi has spent much of her life hiding from the world behind an invisible yellow raincoat, an imaginary barrier that protects her from unwanted attention and human interaction. Working in a frozen-food warehouse and spending her evenings watching livestreams, she leads a quiet, isolated existence. Everything changes when she accepts an unusual part-time job at a museum: conversing in Latin with a statue of Venus on Mondays, when the museum is closed. Initially intimidated by the goddess’s beauty, Rika gradually discovers a surprising connection with her. As their conversations deepen, Venus becomes a companion who challenges Rika’s assumptions about beauty, desire, and the way women are perceived by others. Their relationship develops into an unconventional love story that opens up new possibilities for Rika, encouraging her to reconsider her isolation and imagine a different kind of freedom. Blending surrealism, dark humour, and feminist commentary, Emi Yagi’s novel explores loneliness, queer desire, and the transformative power of being understood. Beneath its whimsical premise lies a thoughtful examination of how society shapes women’s identities and how intimacy can help us break free from expectations.

The Great Reclamation

The Great Reclamation

Set against the dramatic transformation of twentieth-century Singapore, The Great Reclamation follows Lee Ah Boon, a gentle boy growing up in a coastal fishing village during the final years of British colonial rule. More interested in playing with his childhood companion, Siok Mei, than in fishing, Boon discovers he possesses an extraordinary ability: he can locate mysterious, shifting islands rich with fish that no one else can find. His discovery gives him a newfound purpose within his community and deepens his connection to Siok Mei. But history soon disrupts their sheltered world. The Japanese occupation during the Second World War, the rise of political resistance, and Singapore’s journey towards independence bring profound changes to the village. As the government pursues ambitious land reclamation projects in the name of progress, Boon and Siok Mei find themselves on opposing sides of an increasingly divided society. Blending historical fiction, magical realism, and an intimate love story, Heng’s novel explores the costs of modernisation, the legacies of colonialism, and the tension between personal loyalty and collective progress. Through Boon’s journey, the novel asks what it means to call a place home when the land itself—and the society built upon it—is constantly changing.

Nine Yard Sarees

Nine Yard Sarees

Nine Yard Sarees is a collection of eleven interconnected stories following nine women across three generations of the Srinivasan family, a Tamil Brahmin family whose history stretches from India to Singapore, Australia, and the United States. Spanning nearly seven decades, from 1950 to 2019, the stories explore how migration, tradition, and changing social expectations shape women’s lives. At the heart of the collection are women negotiating the demands of family and community while trying to define themselves on their own terms. Raji, the family matriarch, struggles with life away from her homeland, while her daughter Padma attempts to raise her children according to traditional values. In the younger generation, Keerthana approaches marriage and the prospect of wearing the nine-yard saree, a garment symbolizing womanhood and cultural heritage. Through stories of love, grief, prejudice, and personal transformation, Ram examines the tensions between tradition and independence. She addresses patriarchy, caste discrimination, sexuality, and the complexities of belonging in the diaspora. Moving between generations and continents, the collection celebrates women’s resilience and solidarity while revealing the emotional costs of preserving cultural identity in a changing world. The book won the 2024 Singapore Literature Prize for English Fiction.

A Disappearance in Fiji

A Disappearance in Fiji

Set in Fiji in 1914, A Disappearance in Fiji follows Akal Singh, a 25-year-old Indian police sergeant whose promising career in Hong Kong has been derailed by a professional mistake. Transferred to the British colonial outpost of Fiji as punishment, Akal feels isolated and longs to return to India or Hong Kong. His prospects change when an Indian woman named Kunti disappears from a sugarcane plantation, prompting accusations of kidnapping and attracting unwanted public attention. Assigned to investigate, Akal encounters conflicting accounts from plantation owners, Indian indentured labourers, and Indigenous Fijians. As he uncovers inconsistencies in their stories, he begins to suspect that the disappearance reveals something far more troubling than a simple missing-persons case. Blending historical mystery with social commentary, Rao explores colonial racism, caste prejudice, and the exploitation of indentured Indian workers. Through Akal’s investigation, the novel reveals the inequalities underpinning colonial Fiji while examining how a detective’s understanding of justice can change when he confronts the realities of those living under oppressive systems.

Facing the Sun

Janice Lynn Mather

Facing the Sun follows Shani, a teenage girl growing up in the Bahamas, whose life changes after she becomes pregnant. As she navigates the physical and emotional realities of impending motherhood, she must confront the expectations of her family and community, along with her own fears about the future. Her story unfolds alongside those of other young people whose lives are shaped by questions of identity, responsibility, and belonging. Set against the beauty of the Bahamian landscape, the novel explores the challenges facing young women in a society where cultural traditions and social expectations can strongly influence personal choices. Through Shani’s experiences, Mather examines teenage pregnancy, family relationships, friendship, and the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood. The novel offers a nuanced portrayal of young people navigating uncertainty while trying to imagine different possibilities for their lives. It explores how confronting difficult circumstances can become an opportunity for self-discovery, resilience, and growth.

Everything Is Not Enough

Everything Is Not Enough

Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström

Everything Is Not Enough follows three Black women navigating ambition, relationships, and belonging in contemporary Stockholm. Kemi Adeyemi, a Nigerian-born marketing executive, has built a successful career but struggles with the emotional costs of her choices. Brittany-Rae Johnson, an American socialite, finds that wealth and privilege cannot protect her from personal turmoil. Meanwhile, Yasmiin Abdullahi, a Somali-Swedish entrepreneur, faces the challenges of balancing her cultural heritage with her professional ambitions and personal desires. As their lives intersect, the women confront the pressures of social expectations, the complexities of interracial relationships, and the inequalities that shape their experiences. Each must question what success means and whether the lives they have worked so hard to build truly fulfil them. Through interconnected stories of love, friendship, ambition, and self-discovery, Åkerström explores race, class, migration, and the search for belonging. The novel examines the tension between outward success and inner fulfilment, asking whether achieving everything society values is enough to create a meaningful life.

What the River Knows

What the River Knows

Set in Egypt in 1884, What the River Knows follows nineteen-year-old Inez Olivera, a young woman from a wealthy Argentine family whose life changes after the mysterious deaths of her parents. Determined to discover what happened to them, Inez travels to Egypt, where she encounters political intrigue, dangerous secrets, and a world far removed from the privileged life she has known. Her investigation brings her into conflict with Whitford Hayes, an Englishman working for her uncle, whose guarded behaviour makes it difficult to determine whether he is an ally or an adversary. As Inez uncovers clues about her parents’ past, she becomes entangled in a mystery involving ancient Egyptian history and dangerous magic. Blending historical fantasy, romance, and suspense, the novel explores independence, trust, and the risks of pursuing the truth.

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