Singapore Shelf

FICTION

THE GATEKEEPER

By Nuraliah Norasid

Epigram Books/ Paperback/312 pages/ $26.64/Major bookstores, BooksActually and localbooks.sg

In this fantastic debut from the winner of last year's Epigram Books Fiction Prize, set in an imagined multiracial island nation, a young Medusa turns her entire village to stone with her gaze and must flee with her sister for an underground city, where those who are not human live on the margins. As war looms, she must take on the role of the settlement's gatekeeper.

FISTFUL OF COLOURS

By Suchen Christine Lim

Straits Times Press/ Paperback/332 pages/ $18.72/Major

bookstores This elegant new edition of Lim's seminal novel, which won the first Singapore Literature Prize in 1992, paints a rich landscape of Singapore's history through the eyes of a teacher who, with her fellow artists, struggles with the bonds of family and the expectations of society. A must-read for any connoisseur of the Singapore shelf.


NON-FICTION

UNQUIET KINGDOM

By Nirmal Ghosh

Straits Times Press/ Paperback/ 268 pages/$32/ Major bookstores

Ghosh, a veteran journalist who was The Straits Times' Thailand correspondent for 13 years, recounts his time in a restless country caught in the throes of transition. He dodged bullets on the streets of Bangkok; sat down with farmers, nuns and prime ministers; and had a close encounter with a bull elephant.

DYING TO MEET YOU

By Angjolie Mei

Epigram Books/ Paperback/188 pages/ $24.90 before GST/ Major bookstores and localbooks.sg

Mei left a career in management for the funeral industry after the death of her father, a veteran undertaker known as "The Coffin King". In this insider look at the dying industry, she reveals embalming secrets and reflects on what it means to be there to send someone into the next life.


CHILDREN'S

THE BOY IN THE WHALE SUIT

By Marie Toh

Epigram Books/ Paperback/32 pages/ $14.90 before GST/ Major bookstores

Kai is your average boy next door - except that he is always in a whale suit. He does not seem to fit in anywhere - but does he need to?

LIEUTENANT ADNAN AND THE LAST REGIMENT

By Danny Shah Jalil, illustrated by Zaki Ragman

Asiapac Books/ Paperback/132 pages/ $9 before GST/Books Kinokuniya and www.asiapacbooks.com

The latest in the Heroes Of Singapore comic book series introduces young readers to Lieutenant Adnan Saidi, who led the Malay Regiment in a valiant defence of Bukit Chandu during the Japanese invasion in 1942.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 25, 2017, with the headline Singapore Shelf. Subscribe