Sugarbread - Tapa blanda

All the characters have depth and complexity... there are some beautiful descriptive passages, and I like the way in which metaphors are used sparingly, but to good effect. --Philip Holden, editor of Writing Singapore

Balli Kaur Jaswal has made me feel like my ten-year-old self could be someone's protagonist, like my skin belongs in the pages of books in my country. --Pooja Nansi, author of Love is an Empty Barstool

Subtly raising important issues such as racism, religion, identity, class and patriarchy, Jaswal's second novel sensitively portrays Singaporean life through the eyes of a child. Pin must not become like her mother, but nobody will tell her why. She seeks clues in Ma's cooking when she's not fighting other battles - being a bursary girl at an elite school and facing racial taunts from the bus uncle. Then her meddlesome grandmother moves in, installing a portrait of a watchful Sikh guru and a new set of house rules. Old secrets begin to surface, but can Pin handle learning the truth?