Scan barcode
A review by whatshruyireads
Sugarbread by Balli Kaur Jaswal
5.0
It is no secret that Singapore is a multi-cultural country. The city/country/island boasts of housing people from all over the world and the history or it's evolution from what they call a 'swamp' to the thriving and successful economy that it is now is traced through this delicious novel by Balli Kaur Jaiswal.
Synopsis: The story is mostly set in the 90s in Singapore. It is of Pin or Parveen Kaur, who is a 10-year-old Punjabi girl who lives with her parents in a residential society that houses middle class people and they live a simple life. But not when it comes to her ma, Jini's cooking and her attention to food. This little button of a girl is often told by her ma and her weirdly annoying granny that she should never be like her mother. How she gets to know the reasons behind this forms the major part of the story.
There's a topic I'm always talking to my closest of friends about - Intergenerational trauma, ghosts of the past and difficult childhood. How often these three get linked to each other and generations of these transferred too. Where to try and to break this chain is what helps and prospers a family. This rings true in the little girl Pin's life as her ma hasn't had an easy life or it was no bed of roses. What was truly overwhelming was her everyday fight to push all of her ghosts from the past aside so that she doesn't inflict the same trauma that was pushed down on her by her mother. She tries so hard to make sure her daughter has a stable childhood. It takes a lot for a person who's a victim of childhood trauma and to not inflict it on your child as well. This book has all my heart for it. For dealing this with such sensitivity. The mother often tells Pin not to turn out like her but I'd very well say, she should very well be like her ma who is such a fierce woman.
The most striking aspect about this book is the narrative that is done through the eyes of the smart and compassionate little girl. Her days in school, her bus rides back home, her friends, her absolute love and adoration for her dad and her being in awe of her ma. What stands out in this book is the child's explanation of her mother's moods that reflects in the stunning or sometimes crazy dishes she whips up from kitchen. The moods varied and so did her cooking. The child's explanations had my mouth watering at points often that I was looking around for food myself.
A complete thumbs-up for this family saga that is so wholesome and makes you feel emotionally satisfied. I kind of know what my favourite genre or type of books are it's mostly got to do with family sagas. (I'm also of the strong opinion that the author's books could go on to make wonderful screen adaptations.)
Synopsis: The story is mostly set in the 90s in Singapore. It is of Pin or Parveen Kaur, who is a 10-year-old Punjabi girl who lives with her parents in a residential society that houses middle class people and they live a simple life. But not when it comes to her ma, Jini's cooking and her attention to food. This little button of a girl is often told by her ma and her weirdly annoying granny that she should never be like her mother. How she gets to know the reasons behind this forms the major part of the story.
There's a topic I'm always talking to my closest of friends about - Intergenerational trauma, ghosts of the past and difficult childhood. How often these three get linked to each other and generations of these transferred too. Where to try and to break this chain is what helps and prospers a family. This rings true in the little girl Pin's life as her ma hasn't had an easy life or it was no bed of roses. What was truly overwhelming was her everyday fight to push all of her ghosts from the past aside so that she doesn't inflict the same trauma that was pushed down on her by her mother. She tries so hard to make sure her daughter has a stable childhood. It takes a lot for a person who's a victim of childhood trauma and to not inflict it on your child as well. This book has all my heart for it. For dealing this with such sensitivity. The mother often tells Pin not to turn out like her but I'd very well say, she should very well be like her ma who is such a fierce woman.
The most striking aspect about this book is the narrative that is done through the eyes of the smart and compassionate little girl. Her days in school, her bus rides back home, her friends, her absolute love and adoration for her dad and her being in awe of her ma. What stands out in this book is the child's explanation of her mother's moods that reflects in the stunning or sometimes crazy dishes she whips up from kitchen. The moods varied and so did her cooking. The child's explanations had my mouth watering at points often that I was looking around for food myself.
A complete thumbs-up for this family saga that is so wholesome and makes you feel emotionally satisfied. I kind of know what my favourite genre or type of books are it's mostly got to do with family sagas. (I'm also of the strong opinion that the author's books could go on to make wonderful screen adaptations.)