A different sky_chand
2012 Longlist

A Different Sky

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

A dazzling novel telling the history of Singapore through the moving stories of three families whose lives become intertwined.Singapore – a trading post where different lives jostle and mix. It is 1927, and three young people are starting to question whether this inbetween island can ever truly be their home. Mei Lan comes from a famous Chinese dynasty but yearns to free herself from its stifling traditions; ten-year-old Howard seethes at the indignities heaped on his fellow Eurasians by the colonial British; Raj, fresh off the boat from India, wants only to work hard and become a successful businessman. As the years pass, and the Second World War sweeps through the east, with the Japanese occupying Singapore, the three are thrown together in unexpected ways, and tested to breaking point. Richly evocative, A Different Sky paints a scintillating panorama of thirty tumultuous years in Singapore’s history through the passions and struggles of characters the reader will find it hard to forget. (From Publisher)

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Meira
Chand

Born in London to a Swiss mother and Indian father, Meira grew up and was educated in the UK. She studied art at Central St Martin’s. In 1962 she went with her Indian husband to Japan, where she taught art at an international school. Leaving Japan for Mumbai in 1971, she lived for five years in India, where she began writing. India, she says, was a life changing experience. After returning to Japan in 1976, she wrote her first novel, The Gossamer Fly (1979), followed by four further novels about Japan, Last Quadrant (1981), The Bonsai Tree (1983), The Painted Cage (1986), and A Choice of Evils (1996).

Two more novels, A Different Sky (2010) and Sacred Waters (2018), were written after she left Japan to live in Singapore in 1997. The hugely successful Singapore stage production, LKY The Musical, about the life of the country’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, was based on a story she wrote. Meira is now a Singaporean citizen and regards the country as home. In December 2023 she was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest accolade for artistic excellence. (from author)

Born in London to a Swiss mother and Indian father, Meira grew up and was educated in the UK. She studied art at Central St Martin’s. In 1962 she went with her Indian husband to Japan, where she taught art at an international school. Leaving Japan for Mumbai in 1971, she lived for five years in India, where she began writing. India, she says, was a life changing experience. After returning to Japan in 1976, she wrote her first novel, The Gossamer Fly (1979), followed by four further novels about Japan, Last Quadrant (1981), The Bonsai Tree (1983), The Painted Cage (1986), and A Choice of Evils (1996).

Two more novels, A Different Sky (2010) and Sacred Waters (2018), were written after she left Japan to live in Singapore in 1997. The hugely successful Singapore stage production, LKY The Musical, about the life of the country’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, was based on a story she wrote. Meira is now a Singaporean citizen and regards the country as home. In December 2023 she was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest accolade for artistic excellence. (from author)

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NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

A breathtaking novel, it tells the story of three families caught up in the tumultuous history of Singapore. Meira paints a vivid panorama of Singapore society through the loves and struggles of characters which the reader will find it hard to forget.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
United Kingdom
Original Language
English
Author
Publisher
Harvill Secker

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