A Fishing Family at Sea in a Changing Singapore
-
Loading... - Richard Mok
- 31 Mar 2023
- 167 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Rapid modernization takes its toll in Rachel Heng’s impressive epic “The Great Reclamation.”
THE GREAT RECLAMATION, by Rachel Heng
The question of change — whom it affects and how — sits at the core of Rachel Heng’s second novel, “The Great Reclamation,” a stunning historical fiction set against the backdrop of Singapore’s struggle for independence during and after World War II. The novel is vast in scope: We are there to witness the last days of British colonial rule, the devastating consequences of the Japanese invasion (and later expulsion), land reclamation initiatives and the push toward Merdeka, the Malay term signifying freedom.
If this all sounds like a staggering amount to take in, that’s because it is. This is the lot of novels that shoulder the heavy burden of capturing and educating the reader about History with a capital H. The ones that fail let history overpower the narrative. The ones that succeed understand what all great books must do: tell a good story.
Such is the triumph of “The Great Reclamation,” a novel that investigates the price of change through the lives of the Lee family, a nucleus so intimately rendered that readers will find themselves missing the characters long after putting the book down. There is Pa, the reliable, hardworking fisherman; Ma, a stable, loving wife and mother; Uncle, a character both tragic and inevitable; Hia, the tough elder son; and Ah Boon, the younger. Read More…
