Chen was hooked on the novel’s theme after listening to her friend’s story about his family. His father, the inspiration behind the novel’s 12-year-old Ah Liam, saw his grandmother hammering a portrait of Chairman Mao while his aunt (who inspired Ah Liam’s nine-year-old sister, San San) watches on. In the novel, Ah Liam reports his grandmother’s act to the Chinese authorities, which leads to a terrible chain of events with far-reaching effects on his family. Set in contemporary Singapore, it tells the story of a young woman who returns home to manage her family’s artisanal soy sauce business. Her mother would not have been much older than San San, and her aunt had run away from home at the age of 15 to return to China.

Source: Forbes April 27, 2018 20:48 UTC