The latest book reviews this month include Be My Baby, The Road Home, Mrs MisMarriage, Undercover Tai Tai and The White Tiger

Be My Baby
Neil Humphreys
Marshall Cavendish

This is the fourth book from funnyman Brit Neil Humphreys, now living in Australia, who penned three Singaporean best-sellers, including Notes from an Even Smaller Island, during the 10 years he lived and worked here. It chronicles his journey to fatherhood, beginning with a positive pregnancy test that turns his (and presumably his wife’s) world upside down. It’s fun, but long, and reads too much like a series of newspaper columns, which is basically what it is. This book would have served the reader better if it had included helpful facts about pregnancy for other guys on the same journey. As it is, it’s a little too self-indulgent.

Jill Birch

The Road Home  
Rose Tremain
Vintage

This is the story of Lev, a widowed  Eastern European migrant who leaves behind his young daughter and mother to find work in England to provide a better life for them. The hardships of his new life in London are compassionately and humorously contrasted with the superficiality of the celebrity culture of the West that he encounters. Limited and made vulnerable by his lack of English, Lev’s story is a fine balance of tragedy and comedy, supported by the rich cast of characters he meets along his journey, such as crazy Rudi, whose pride and joy is his old Chevrolet taxi (the Tchevi). Avoiding sentimentality, this tale celebrates the strength of the human spirit. A satisfying, enjoyable read that engaged me from the first page.

Cathryn Williams

Mrs MisMarriage
Noelle Chua
Undercover Tai Tai
Maya O. Calica
Both from Marshall Cavendish

Want to know what young Singaporean women are fantasising about? Look no further than the novels in this new Asian chick-lit series, mainly by Filipina writers. The heroine of Mrs MisMarriage is Audrey, a dead-ordinary Singaporean reading for a Literature Ph.D. at Harvard. The rich, drop-dead gorgeous Chinese American MBA Paul sweeps her off her tiny feet and brings her back here to live the lifestyle of an expat tai-tai in a huge house in Holland Grove.

The ludicrous plot of The Undercover Tai Tai sees a plain young librarian forced to get hair extensions, don Gucci and Fendi and go undercover in Singapore’s high society to help an incredibly yummy police detective investigate the death of a Singaporean socialite. The steamy bit with the Filipino dance instructor almost makes up for the iffy writing.
Read these on the beach.

Verne Maree

The White Tiger
Aravind Adiga
Atlantic Books

A deserving recipient of the Man Booker Prize 2008, this is the story of Balram Halwai, alias Munna. The plot takes us from Balram’s home in the village of Laxmangarh, to his job as a driver in New Delhi, and then to his final incarnation as a businessman in Bangalore. On the way, the reader is treated to an extraordinarily witty, satirical narrative that is acute in both its observation and expression. While the outcome is predictable, the journey and dialogue that take you there may find you sympathising with its antihero.
This informative and engrossing account of life in modern India never loses pace.

Karen Renner