The River's Song - Softcover

Lim, Suchen Christine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190658298X ISBN 13: 9781906582982

Publisher: Aurora Metro Books, 2014

Synopsis

Ping, the daughter of Chinatown's Pipa Queen, loves Weng, the voice of the people, but family circumstances drive them apart. Ping is forced to leave suddenly for the USA, while Weng is sent to prison for his part in local protests. Many years later, Ping returns to a country transformed by prosperity. Gone are the boatmen and hawkers who once lived along the river. In their place, rise luminous glass and steel towers proclaiming the power of the city state. Can Ping face her former lover and reveal the secret that has separated them for over 30 years? A beautifully written exploration of identity, love and loss, set against the dramatic upheaval unleashed by the rise of Singapore, about which The Sunday Times Singapore wrote: ' - unashamedly details Singapore's past and present in gripping stories - The River's Song - is among the best prose to come out of Singapore.'

About this title

Product Description:

Ping, the daughter of Chinatown's Pipa Queen, loves Weng, the voice of the people, but family circumstances drive them apart. Ping is forced to leave suddenly for the USA, where she creates a different life for herself. Many years later, Ping returns to a country transformed by prosperity. Gone are the boatmen and hawkers who once lived along the river. In their place, rise luminous glass and steel towers proclaiming the power of the city state. Can Ping face her former lover and reveal the secret that has separated them for over 30 years? A beautifully written exploration of identity, love and loss, set against the dramatic upheaval unleashed by the rise of Singapore. SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE MONTH

Review:

'Singaporean novelist Lim paints an evocative, atmospheric portrait of old Singapore and its vigorous, sometimes brutal transition to modernity. ..Her well-drawn characters bear the scars of this history-Yoke Lan, for example, is a bundle of brittle social ambitions and insecurities as she tries to fit in with the elite-yet they retain their vibrant individuality as they struggle to keep their feet amid the upheaval. Lim tells their story in prose that's subtle, clear-eyed and lyrical, linking a city's rise with the emotional travails of its inhabitants. A fine, deeply felt saga of lives caught up in progress that's as heart-breaking as it is hopeful.' --Kirkus reviews

'... just as the best novels should be but so rarely are: like immersion in a vivid dream. I couldn't decide whether to read it slowly in order to savour every word, or to race along, mesmerised by Lim's dazzling story-telling.' -- --Jill Dawson, author of The Great Lover, (Richard and Judy's Bookclub)

'Lim wonderfully balances (the protagonist) Ping's two worlds throughout the novel and shows how modernisation and the 'improvement' of the lives of the river folk was devastating. Once glittering high-rises, paved promenades and million-dollar shopping malls are built, the human cost for such a shiny coat is often forgotten. But underneath the façade, the chaos rages on. An accomplished pipa player (a four-stringed Chinese lute), as an adult, Ping says, 'discord and dissonance are the hallmarks of my compositions'. Her (Lim s) descriptions of playing the pipa are beautifully intertwined with her exposition. Like art and smells, it can be difficult to convey music in writing, but Lim brings it to life. Books which not only describe but educate audiences on something new are a real treat. Gail Tsukiyama teaches readers about silk- making in Women of the Silk (1991), Nury Vittachi brilliantly instructs readers about Feng Shui in The Feng Shui Detective (2ooo) and now Suchen Christine Lim leaves readers with an understanding of the history and art of playing the pipa in The River's Song.' --Wasafiri Magazine

About this edition

• Publisher: Aurora Metro Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 190658298X
• ISBN 13: 9781906582982
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 338