Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan – The Second Shelf

In Sarong Party Girls, Jazzy – razor-sharp and vulgar, yet vulnerable – fervently pursues her quest to find a white husband and have ‘Chanel’ babies, but her story reveals the contentious gender politics and class tensions thrumming beneath the shiny exterior of Singapore’s glamorous nightclubs. Desperate to move up in Asia’s financial and international capital, will Jazzy and her friends succeed? Vividly told in Singlish – colourful Singaporean English with its distinctive cadence and slang – Sarong Party Girls brilliantly captures the unique voice of a young, striving woman caught between worlds. With remarkable vibrancy and empathy, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan brings not only Jazzy, but her city of Singapore, to dazzling, dizzying life.