Book review: Sugarbread by Balli Kaur Jaswal

My Wednesday Book Look is this little gem of a book, SUGARBREAD, by Balli Kaur Jaswal, a 2016 release, HarperCollins Books.

Set in Singapore of the early 1990s, the narrator is a ten- year- old girl Pin, Parveen Kaur. In sharp, clear tones, Pin tells us the  story of her life, her easygoing lottery-addicted father, her mother who has a troubling skin condition, her flinty Naniji who comes to live with them, and the tensile ropes that bind this family together.

Pin`s mother cooks according to her moods. Somedays, she cooks up a storm. Other days,  it`s sparse pickings. The family learns to read Jini`s moods from the food on the tale, which is a very tentative way to live. Added to this is the fact that Pin`s parents can`t afford to pay the full fees for her schooling, so she is a Bursary student, thus exposed to some unkindness and patronizing from her better-off peers.

Pin is like an Indian Scout, from To Kill a Mockingbird. She`s smart, sweet, conscientious, funny and engaging. The reader takes to her at once. Jaswal`s triumph lies in that she gets the voice of the ten-year-old just right; Pin is neither cutesy nor precocious. Her relationship with a portrait of the Guru that hangs on and off in their living room, is pure delight to read.

A Singapore story

Singapore finds a strong voice in the story. Here is Pin ruminating on the city of her birth:  Concrete pavements over grass, flats over hawker centres, Malay food over Indian food over Chinese food over McDonald’s. Leaves pointing towards the sky in every possible shade of green—jade; emerald; a deep sea green; a sickly yellowish-green. Beneath them, spotted branches spread in a crooked line across the sky. Behind them, buildings. Underneath those, the MRT snaked across the city. A city; an island; a state; a country. Everything overlapping.

The book also shows us the lives of those who live at the opposite spectrum of Crazy Rich Asians, outsiders  who scrimp and save at the expense of their dignity, who face a lot of casual but stinging racism in their everyday lives. However, it leaves readers with the consoling thought that Pin is alright, she`ll do well in life and three cheers for that. The sugarbread of the title, is something Pin invents to eat when she`s feeling low or when regular food is missing from the table. That toast sprinkled over with sugar, is the key to Pin`s fortitude, good cheer and indomitable spirit.

Now I need to pick up this writer`s other books and read them.