{"title":"Novel","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"art-studio-by-yeng-pway-ngon","title":"Art Studio \/ By Yeng Pway Ngon","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eTranslated by Goh Beng Choo, Loh Guan Liang\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSingapore, 1980s. Amid the tumult of political promise and upheaval, Yan Pei and his students struggle to pursue art in a rented studio. Yan Pei, a penniless artist, sacrifices more than his marriage to perfect his craft. His student Si Xian makes an irrevocable decision after Ning Fang, the subject of his unrequited love, leaves him for India. Jian Xiong gives up art – and his humanity – when communist politics force him to flee into the Malayan jungle. A story of disparate paths crossing continents over the span of forty years after Singapore’s independence, Art Studio is a stirring meditation on art, politics and memory. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Original version of \u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eArt Studio\u003c\/em\u003e, 《画室》can be found \u003ca data-cke-saved-href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3ea5gvv\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3ea5gvv\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-mce-href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3ea5gvv\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Book Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42600023949530,"sku":"9789810797508","price":25.6,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/products\/80.jpg?v=1649340263"},{"product_id":"state-of-emergency-by-jeremy-tiang","title":"State of Emergency \/ by Jeremy Tiang","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWinner of Singapore Literature Prize 2018, Fiction\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eShortlisted for Singapore Book Awards 2018, Best Fiction Title\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFinalist for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSiew Li leaves her husband and children in Tiong Bahru to fight for freedom in the jungles of Malaya. Decades later, a Malaysian journalist returns to her homeland to uncover the truth of a massacre committed during the Emergency. And in Singapore, Siew Li's niece Stella finds herself accused of being a Marxist conspirator.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eJeremy Tiang's debut novel dives into the tumultuous days of leftist movements and political detentions in Singapore and Malaysia. It follows an extended family from the 1940s to the present day as they navigate the choppy political currents of the region. What happens when the things that divide us also bind us together?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr data-cke-eol=\"1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e","brand":"City Book Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42603198775514,"sku":"9789811700927","price":29.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/products\/114.jpg?v=1649395122"},{"product_id":"sugarbread-balli-kaur-jaswal","title":"Sugarbread \/ Balli Kaur Jaswal","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFinalist for the 2015 Epigram Books Fiction Prize\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eShortlisted for the Singapore Book Awards 2017 (Best Fiction Title)\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eShortlisted for the Popular Readers' Choice Awards 2016 English (Adult) Books category\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eShortlisted for Singapore Literature Prize 2018\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePin 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?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbout the author \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBalli Kaur Jaswal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is the recipient of The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist Award 2014 for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eInheritance\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, which inspired a film adaptation directed by K. Rajagopal, called \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eLizard on the Wall\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Her second novel, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/epigrambookshop.sg\/products\/sugarbread\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSugarbread\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, was shortlisted for the 2015 Epigram Books Fiction Prize and the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize, while her most recent book, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eErotic Stories for Punjabi Widows\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick in 2018. Born in Singapore and raised in Japan, Russia and the Philippines, she studied creative writing in the United States, and has received writing fellowships from the University of East Anglia and Nanyang Technological University. Her fourth novel, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, will be published in the USA and UK in 2019.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Book Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44103014351066,"sku":"9789814757300","price":29.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/files\/IMG_2526.jpg?v=1695786706"},{"product_id":"gus-the-life-and-opinions-of-the-last-raffles-banded-langur-by-jon-gresham","title":"Gus: The Life and Opinions of the Last Raffles' Banded Langur \/ by Jon Gresham","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eFinalist for the 2023 Epigram Books Fiction Prize\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eIn this action-packed eco-novel, wild talking monkeys lead a revolution in a troubled Singapore. Gus, a precocious Raffles' banded langur, seeks to get home to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, a Filipino nurse tries to heal her grief, and an auditor strives to be a clown. Their adventures take place along the Rail Corridor, among the shophouses of Blair Plain, and beneath the skyscrapers of downtown Singapore.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eAbout the author\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJon Gresham is the author of We Rose Up Slowly (2015). His writing has appeared in various publications, including Best Singaporean Short Stories 1 (2020) and The Best Asian Short Stories 2020. His story “The Visit” was shortlisted for the 2020 Short Fiction\/Essex University Prize and included in Best New Singaporean Short Stories: Volume Five (2021). He also co-edited In This Desert, There Were Seeds (2019), an anthology of stories by West Australian and Singaporean writers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJon helped run the Asia Creative Writing Programme, a collaboration between the School of Humanities at Nanyang Technological University and the National Arts Council of Singapore. He is a co-founder of Sing Lit Station, and established the Book A Writer workshop programme. He has lived in Singapore for over twenty years. Gus: The Life and Opinions of the Last Raffles’ Banded Langur is his first novel.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"City Book Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45219021979866,"sku":"","price":29.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/files\/IMG_0005.png?v=1715926249"},{"product_id":"mourning-a-breast-xi-xi","title":"Mourning A Breast \/ Xi xi","description":"\u003cp\u003eTranslated by \u003cspan\u003eJennifer Feeley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003eIn \u003cspan class=\"html-span xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x1hl2dhg x16tdsg8 x1vvkbs\"\u003e\u003ca class=\"html-a xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x1hl2dhg x16tdsg8 x1vvkbs\" tabindex=\"-1\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e1989, the acclaimed Hong Kong writer Xi Xi was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her semi-autobiographical novel \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/citybookroom.com\/products\/ai_dao_ru_fang_xixi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003e哀悼乳房\u003c\/a\u003e  is a disarmingly honest and inventive account of the author’s experience of a mastectomy and of her subsequent recovery. The book opens with her putting away a bathing suit. As the routine pleasure of swimming is revoked, the small loss stands in for the greater one. But Xi Xi’s mourning begins to take shape as a form of activism. Addressing her reader as frankly and unashamedly as an old friend, she describes what she is going through; finds consolation in art, literature, and cinema; and advocates for a universal literacy of the body. Mourning a Breast was heralded as one of the first Chinese-language books to cast off the stigma of writing about illness and to expose the myths associated with breast cancer. It is a radical novel about creating in the midst of mourning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Book Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45772841484506,"sku":"","price":33.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/files\/IMG_0032.jpg?v=1726918970"},{"product_id":"taiwan-travelogue-yang-shuang-zi","title":"Taiwan Travelogue \/ Yang Shuang-zi","description":"\u003cp\u003eTranslated by \u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLing King \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDue to surge demand on the book worldwide, we are still waiting for the shipment of the books. We will mail the book out once the books arrived. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2024美國國家圖書獎\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e翻譯文學獎\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e楊双子\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/citybookroom.com\/products\/taiwan_travelogue_original\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e《臺灣漫遊錄》\u003c\/a\u003e英文版\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e譯者：金翎(Lin King)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history, and power\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMay 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She’s been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.\u003cbr\u003eSoon a Taiwanese woman―who is younger even than she is, and who shares the characters of her name―is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. The charming, erudite, meticulous Chizuru arranges Chizuko’s travels all over the Land of the South and also proves to be an exceptional cook. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But something causes Chizuru to keep her distance. It’s only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko begins to grasp what the “something” is.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDisguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, this novel was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award. Taiwan Travelogue unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Book Room ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46786527068378,"sku":"9781644453155","price":35.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/files\/Screenshot2025-08-17at5.09.43PM.png?v=1755421806"},{"product_id":"the-colour-of-twilight-yeng-pway-ngon","title":"The Colour of Twilight \/ Yeng Pway Ngon","description":"\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Jeremy Tiang \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUntil his death in 2021, Yeng Pway Ngon was widely regarded as one of Singapore's most important Sinophone writers, having won the Singapore Literature Prize three times, among other honours. His final novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Colour of Twilight\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in Chinese (\u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/citybookroom.com\/products\/huang_hun_de_yan_se\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e《黄昏的颜色》\u003c\/a\u003e） in 2019 and will be available to English readers in Jeremy Tiang’s translation, published by City Book Room in January 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Colour of Twilight\u003c\/i\u003e is an elegy –– for its protagonist, an ageing widower who wonders if he has wasted his life by devoting it to literature, and also for the traditions and community that have been swept away by the relentless capitalism and modernisation of Singapore.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Translator's notes\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/files\/Translator_notes_The_colour_of_Twilight.pdf?v=1765435086\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003eTranslator's Notes \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e“\u003cem\u003e The Colour of Twilight\u003c\/em\u003e is a final chapter of a Singaporean ethnography of masculinity that provides a counterpoint to celebratory stories of public lives in the nation-state; as the novel builds on Yeng’s earlier works, we accompany his characters in ageing, uncertainty, regret, introspection, and loss.” \u003cspan\u003e——\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003ePhilip\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"il\"\u003eHolden\u003c\/span\u003e, literary scholar and writer\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eFull article: http:\/\/www.qlrs.com\/critique.asp?id=2022\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the crepuscular space between history and memory, an ageing Singaporean-Chinese writer reflects on his life, his creativity, and the local culture milieu. With candour and compassion, Yeng’s vignettes of the everyday build to a subtly stirring tale that lingers beyond the page. The Colour of Twilight reframes the value of an artist's life. \u003cspan\u003e——Dr \u003c\/span\u003eChan Cheow Thia, author of \u003ci\u003eMalaysian Crossings\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmid the absurdity of life, Yeng Pway Ngon finds the true meaning of existence.\u003cspan\u003e——\u003c\/span\u003eDr Liw Pei Kien, author of \u003ci\u003eModernism in Singapore Chinese Literature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbout the author\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eYENG PWAY NGON \u003c\/b\u003e(1947-2021) received the Cultural Medallion for Literature in 2003. He published 31 volumes of poetry, fiction, essays, plays and literary criticism in Chinese. In 2013, he taught novel and short story writing at Nanyang Technological University's Chinese Language Department, under the Chinese Writing Residency Project. In the same year, he received the S.E.A.Write Award (Southeast Asian Writers Award). Yeng received the National Book Development Council's Book Award for 1987-88 and the Singapore Literature Prize in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. His poetry and novels have been translated into English and Italian.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbout the translator\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJEREMY TIANG \u003c\/b\u003eis a novelist, playwright and the International Booker longlisted translator of over 30 books from Chinese, including Yeng Pway Ngon's previous novels \u003ci\u003eUnrest\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCostume\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a two-time winner of the Singapore Literature Prize, for his translation of Zhang Yueran's \u003ci\u003eCocoon\u003c\/i\u003e and for his novel \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/citybookroom.com\/products\/state-of-emergency-by-jeremy-tiang\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eState of Emergency\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e; his short story collection \u003ci\u003eIt Never Rains on National Day\u003c\/i\u003e was shortlisted for the same prize. His plays include \u003ci\u003eSalesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e之死\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e(Obie Award for Outstanding New Play), \u003ci\u003eThe Last Days of Limehouse\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Dream of Red Pavilions\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Book Room","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47210633986266,"sku":"9789811779268","price":23.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9344\/0730\/files\/Screenshot2025-12-11at12.36.18PM.png?v=1765427802"}],"url":"https:\/\/citybookroom.com\/zh-tw\/collections\/novel.oembed","provider":"City Book Room ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}