Darkly funny, Sarong Party Girls is one very determined woman’s journey through modern Singapore, an intoxicating crossroads of culture, money, and ambition. Her voice is utterly new and engaging, bringing her world to vivid life from the first sentence.
Scarlett O’Hara would have met her match in Jazeline Lim, the brazen, striving, yet ultimately vulnerable heroine of this bold debut novel.
In Singapore, this satirical novel of predatory beauties would be regarded as deeply subversive-for the rest of us, and anyone familiar with the life in that little island city-state, it is hilarious and original.
02/01/2016
Strikingly, this debut novel from the author of A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family is written in Singlish, a brightly slangy English used in Singapore that blends in words from Malay, Mandarin, Indian, Fukienese, and Cantonese. As heroine Jazzy approaches 27, she decides that it's time for her and best partying girlfriends to nab rich ang moh (Western expat) husbands. Soon, though, the disparity between old-world tradition and sparkling new money starts getting to her. Promotion as splashy as the wedding Jazzy envisions.
2016-05-24
One young Singaporean woman's meandering journey toward self-actualization.The so-called Sarong Party Girl, Jazzy, is on a mission with her friends Fann and Imo. Before she turns 27, she wants to find an ang moh—white, foreign—husband with whom to have the most enviable accessory, a "Chanel baby." The plan is fivefold: be "chio," meaning attractive—skinny, fair, preferably dimple-cheeked; behave differently from other women providing only one or two nights of excitement; be interested in ang moh interests beyond "laugh laugh drink drink wink wink"; know the enemy—"China girls...Filipinas...other SPGs...ang moh girls"—who may try to "potong" eligible men; and know the best places to go for pickups. Jazzy makes her way through the often shocking after-hours world, which, at its mildest, includes sexual harassment and infidelity and, at its cruelest, includes KTV lounges where men have their pick of willing professionals and parties where wives stand by as husbands sample sex toys with the young girls who work for them. What she comes to find, secondary to a husband, is herself. Tan (Singapore Noir, 2014) offers a fascinating insight into Singapore's club scene and social castes, and she does so in an irreverent, likable voice made more notable for its patois, Singlish—the unique mix of English, Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew, and more. For example, describing the sort of undesirable attention the girls receive in Marina Square, "if you have two nice-looking girls sitting outside McDonald's—walao, Ah Bengs confirm will suddenly damn steam." After the turbulence of Jazzy's journey, the final message is a positive one.A rowdy tale, memorable language, and a very distinctive protagonist.
Utterly irresistible….I fell in love with Jazzy’s fresh, exuberant voice and trenchant wit. In her debut novel, Tan is saying something profound and insightful about the place of women in our globalized, capitalized, interconnected world.” — Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being
“In Singapore, this satirical novel of predatory beauties would be regarded as deeply subversive-for the rest of us, and anyone familiar with the life in that little island city-state, it is hilarious and original.” — Paul Theroux
“Scarlett O’Hara would have met her match in Jazeline Lim, the brazen, striving, yet ultimately vulnerable heroine of this bold debut novel.” — Julia Glass, National Book Award-winning author of Three Junes
“Wildly original, daring, hilarious, and heartbreaking in equal measure—Sarong Party Girls is written in a unqiue and captivating voice unlike any I’ve read before. The unforgettable Jazzy will seduce you with her no-holds-barred account of what it’s like to be young and female in modern-day Singapore” — John Searles, bestselling author of Help for the Haunted and Strange but True
“Through the insouciant voice of her heroine, Tan delivers a stinging and deliciously subversive critique of Singapore’s patriarchal social system. You’ll be so busy laughing at Jazzy’s outrageous cheek, you won’t notice until it’s too late that your heart has been broken.” — Hillary Jordan, author of When She Woke
“Darkly funny, Sarong Party Girls is one very determined woman’s journey through modern Singapore, an intoxicating crossroads of culture, money, and ambition. Her voice is utterly new and engaging, bringing her world to vivid life from the first sentence.” — Ayelet Waldman, author of Love and Treasure
Utterly irresistible….I fell in love with Jazzy’s fresh, exuberant voice and trenchant wit. In her debut novel, Tan is saying something profound and insightful about the place of women in our globalized, capitalized, interconnected world.
Wildly original, daring, hilarious, and heartbreaking in equal measure—Sarong Party Girls is written in a unqiue and captivating voice unlike any I’ve read before. The unforgettable Jazzy will seduce you with her no-holds-barred account of what it’s like to be young and female in modern-day Singapore
Angela Lin’s command of Singlish—English as spoken in Singapore—showcases her skills as a narrator. Not only does she establish characters and create a strong atmosphere, but she does so in a patois that draws heavily from several languages. Yet everything makes perfect sense, thanks to her spot-on delivery. Jazzy and her best friends are rapidly approaching the age at which they really ought to be married—or at least engaged—or, at the very least, have a steady boyfriend. So far, only Sher has gotten married, but no one wants to talk about that. So Jazzy comes up with a plan: The girls need to get serious about settling down. But for these Singapore party girls, that is far easier said than done! K.M.P. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine