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The River's Song

by Suchen Christine Lim

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A return to a transformed Singapore

$21.21 USD
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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    The Sunday Times Book of the Month

    Identified as The Sunday Times Book of the Month.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A return to a transformed Singapore

Ping’s story links a long-separated love to the changes reshaping Singapore. After leaving for the United States, she builds a new life; decades later, her return brings her face to face with the country’s transformation from riverbank communities of boatmen and hawkers to a city marked by glass-and-steel towers. The unresolved secret between Ping and Weng gives this historical and social change a personal dimension, while the book’s stated themes of identity, love, and loss connect private choices with a changing sense of place.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in Singapore’s transformation and its effects on everyday life.
  • Readers who enjoy stories about long-separated lovers, family circumstances, and secrets.
  • Readers drawn to fiction exploring identity, love, and loss.

Themes

Singapore’s urban transformationIdentity and belongingLove and separationFamily circumstances and secretsLoss

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

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
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