A supernatural exposé of a past system that still has a tight grip on contemporary Singapore and Malaysia.
It’s August of 1931 in Singapore, sixteen-year-old Lim Mei Mei (Ah Mei) arrives at the home of Eminent Mister Lee on the eve of the Hungry Ghost Month. She has been sold to the family as a mui tsai, an indentured servant girl. At the Lee household, Lim Mei Mei’s life education begins. There she encounters the spirit of Ah Lian, a mui tsai, who paid the ultimate price for her mistake. Through Ah Lian, Ah Mei discovers the plight of mui tsai, who are both helpless and powerful, and uncovers a shameful secret lurking in the shadows in the Lee house. Ah Mei also meets and falls in love with Hassan Mohamed, an Indian-Muslim and an aspiring poet, breaking every clause in the rule book of love in 1930s British Malaya. She becomes Hassan’s Polar Star, and the young lovers must find a way to stay together. Through a twist of fate, Ah Mei finds a solution that will keep her and Hassan together, at the same time gaining agency that will secure her own future as an uneducated servant girl in British Malaya.
The House of Little Sisters by Eva Wong Nava
Eva Wong Nava was born in Singapore and writes stories for children who, like herself, never saw themselves in books until now. She combines degrees in English Literature and Art History, and writes stories that explore identity, culture, and belonging. Eva has done many things in life but writing remains her favourite thing to do. She has written an award-winning middle-grade novel and several picturebooks. Eva has been a speaker at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content on writing about diversity and representing marginalised voices.
A passionate collector and reader of picture books, she teaches the art of picture book writing at Picture Book Matters. Eva writes full-time and lives in London with her family and two scampering squirrels.