Literary Fiction

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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.

The Original Daughter

The Original Daughter

In 1996 Singapore, eight-year-old Genevieve Yang has always been an only child. That changes when Arin, a girl from a secret second family her grandfather left behind in Malaysia, comes to live with them. Initially uncertain of each other, the girls gradually become inseparable, forging a sisterhood that helps them navigate life in a working-class household and a society where academic achievement is seen as the path to a better future. As they grow older, Gen and Arin pursue their ambitions in different ways. But in a rapidly modernising Singapore, where success can mean everything and failure feels unforgivable, their once-unbreakable bond begins to fracture. Jealousy, resentment, and betrayal complicate their relationship, forcing them to confront what they owe their family—and what they owe themselves. Spanning years of changing relationships and personal reinvention, The Original Daughter is an intimate portrait of sisterhood, ambition, and the complicated nature of love. Jemimah Wei captures the pressures of social mobility and the longing to be seen, asking whether we can become our own people without losing those who helped shape us.