The Heartsick Diaspora, and other stories

'These are stories to savour like the fine food they describe. Sharply observed, funny, sad and entertaining, they leave you more knowledgeable about the world we live in. I loved this book.'-Paul McVeigh; 'Something I really enjoyed about the collection was how unique each story was from the writing style to the genre. There were some historical stories, reimaginations of Eastern mythology, domestic fiction and contemporary fiction and they were all written so beautifully.'-Uju Onyishi; 'Chiew never veers into explicit commentary, yet crafts her narration to thrust the reader into the scene itself and all the emotions that come with it. The Heartsick Diaspora is an emotional-even intimate and relatable-account of the complicated realities behind living across cultures, in a setting familiar to many of us. So, if you ever see the distinctive cover on the shelves, it is certainly worthwhile to pick up the chopsticks and savor the stories.'-Huang Beihua and Mah Xiao Yu, Raffles Press; 'Elaine Chiew writes with such wit and humour, but with a deftness that never compromises the poignancy of the migrant experience, of being caught between the cultures and expectations of one's homeland and the assumptions and freedoms of the adopted one. This is a book of short stories that linger and leave me wanting more.'-Yin F Lim; 'This has got to be my favourite collection of short stories this year, so much so I specially ordered dim sum to spruce this post up visually and to symbolically convey how her compact, colourful stories are just like delicious word dumplings. It also made me realise how cleverly my mum social-hustled for us as the sole Asian family in a very white neighbourhood when we lived in London in the 1980s (constant playdates with blondes!) It is a lovely feeling when stories are able to dig up random snapshots of past.'-Mel Tea Books; 'This compelling collection is packed with prize winning stories alongside new works, and is the result of Chiew's own journey of personal discovery and identity. A striking and important debut.'-Han Clark, Lunate; 'Elaine's debut collection is masterfully written. Set in Singapore, England and the US, the stories are multilayered, diverse and rich in content, unsentimental yet poignant. I can't recommend it enough. If you were to read only short story collection this year, let this be the one. You won't be disappointed.'-Chiew-Siah Tei, author of Hut of Little Leaping Fishes and The Mousedeer Kingdom; ' Appetites are good, says one of the characters in the title story, appetites are page-turners . An apt aphorism for this collection peopled with richly imagined characters, whose appetites both literal and metaphorical propel their stories off the page and under our skin.Elaine Chiew's brilliant debut is perfectly poised between playful and serious, and I can't wait to read more of her work.'-Pippa Goldschmidt; 'The themes of The Heartsick Diaspora range from Asian myths, to life as immigrants, parents and children relationships and of course identity of oneself as Asian. I found many of these stories are interesting and very well written, even thought-provoking. The way the author inserted different languages, dialects and slangs, including fillers into the stories is one of my favourite thing about this book.'-Jessica Tay; 'Riffing on the collisions between tradition and modernity, Elaine Chiew's winsome, playful, and sometimes wistful short story collection The Heartsick Diaspora hopscotches across continents and time periods, focusing on Malaysians at home and abroad. Leavened with well-observed humor, and peppered with moments of pathos and poignant reflections on cultural difference, The Heartsick Diaspora is a stimulating and varied collection.'-Ho Lin, Foreward Reviews Five Gifted New Authors; 'The Heartsick Diaspora is an ambitious attempt to capture the breadth of the Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese diaspora through time and in three of the cities (among others) in which Chiew has lived. Chiew's prose is intelligent and funny and reveals a range rarely seen in story collections.'-Leland Cheuk, Hyphen magazine; 'The Heartsick Diaspora and other stories is laced with wry humour, intricate details and multi-layered characters. Chiew possesses a talent in writing lyrical prose that oscillates between humour and seriousness. She has a knack of injecting subtle humour that allows the reader to laugh and cry for the characters at the same time. Chiew doesn't compromise the use of Chinese vernacular, which adds a distinctive flavour to her stories. What distinguishes this collection from the rest is that Chiew highlights the displacement and identity of the Chinese migrant communities. She's definitely a writer to watch out for in the years to come.'-Yang Ming, Ink Pantry; 'The characters in Chiew's stories are often far from home, caught between worlds. Part of the Singaporean and Malaysian diasporas, they've headed to the U.S. and UK, but are tied to the family and values they've left behind, a push-pull of re-invention, cultural expectations and obligation. Rap of The Tiger Mother deliciously debunks the myth of strict Asian mothers, as Charlotte gangsta raps the story of her abandonment of the overly ambitious demands of her son's prep school in favour of his happiness.'-Eithne Farry, Daily Mail; 'It's a beautifully written book and I really recommend it to everybody.'-Tim Arthur, BBC Radio London; 'There's nothing more pleasing than kicking off the year with an incredible read. The representation of the cultures, the varying themes, the recurring characters, the subtle writing style - everything was stellar. I am out of words to describe this title but in three words, it is witty, dynamic and thought-provoking. I'd give this book a bazillion stars and highly recommend you to add this impressive debut by Elaine Chiew to your reading list.'-The Biblio Sara; 'The Heartsick Diaspora was a wonderful read throughout and is here definitely recommended. To carry all the history, the changes, the diversity of location, people and families and do it faultlessly through a series of stories with barely a flicker of fault in any is a major achievement. Each story is a dense little gem in itself, a meaty little tale packed with so much information, hinting at so much more. As a collection - building the foundations of the others even deeper - they are outstanding. I will be seeking out anything else Chiew is writing - she is a very, very, good writer.'-NB Magazine, Hilary White: 5/5 Review; '(Elaine) has the ability to transfer emotions from the page, straight into my heart and mind. The Heartsick Diaspora is a wonderful, thought provoking collection of stories, I can highly recommend.'-Liz Robinson, LoveReading; 'Arresting images and similes are found on every page.'-Rosie Milne, Asian Review of Books; 'In The Heartsick Diaspora, Elaine Chiew allows us to visit a breadth of experiences among Chinese migrant communities, both past and present. The range of the emotional worlds of the characters represented in the book is depicted in fragments, echoing the disjointed, often repressed manner in which many of the immigrant families communicate with one another. The stories do an outstanding job of capturing an atmosphere that is recognisable, but presented in fresh tales to engage the mind and heart of the reader, even as they entertain. It is a brilliant first collection by Chiew, marking her as a writer to be watched.'-Shelly Bryant; 'A spectacular read! What a handsome showcase of the consummate storyteller Elaine Chiew. Hers is a winning voice, working in pathos with great elan. We become witness to such a rich understanding of human emotion and desire. Elaine lets scene and character speak for themselves, with such self-assured perspicacity.'-Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingde; 'The Heartsick Diaspora is an unflinching examination of the hybrid and hyphenated lives of global nomads, shining a bright light on Singaporean-Chinese voices, but also the larger Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese diaspora. It is philosophical and poetic in turns, and stories like 'Face' and 'The Heartsick Diaspora' and 'Mapping Three Lives' are absolutely stunning. Memorably populated with characters who linger in the mind long after the last story ends, this book is a truly impressive debut, full of humour and heart.'-Dipika Mukherjee; 'Elaine Chiew's witty stories in The Heartsick Diaspora offer us a rich palette of feelings and experiences that often converge: humour, melancholy, rage, and tenderness. Issues of race, ethnicity, and cultural identities are embedded in the everyday-in the kitchen, on the bus, or at school-as characters navigate between connection and isolation, visibility and invisibility, familiarity and distance.'-Intan Paramaditha, author of Apple and Knife; 'The Heartsick Diaspora is thoughtful, complex, emotionally resonant, both aware of the need to establish its own truth and of the danger that need involves... The stories are as deeply felt as they are, on occasion, playful; there's a kind of impertinence of tone, a creative intelligence that lets Chiew get up skin-close and yet maintain a distance that allows her, and us, to see the larger picture.'-Charles Lambert; 'The characters in Elaine Chiew's wonderful and vibrant collection, The Heartsick Diaspora, are drawn with so much insight, humor, and compassion. It is an original and beautiful collection.'-Karen E. Bender; 'Chiew is in her element when handling contemporary diasporic dilemmas with humour. Despite the warning served through a Chinese fortune cookie to never say anything important with words, The Heartsick Diaspora is a welcome addition to this under-served category.'-Ranjani Rao, Medium; 'If you like short stories, I could not recommend this one more highly. A unique and imaginative collection.'-Reads and Reveries; 'This debut collection looks at Singaporeans and Malaysians living in diaspora in short stories that are wickedly funny or melancholic.'-The Strait Times, Olivia Ho; 'Elaine Chiew's short stories are hugely incisive. Here is a satisfying mix of poignancy and humour, light and dark-an unforgettable journey into the hearts and minds of the displaced. Chiew brings original and multiple award-winning skills to great effect in these sparklingly intelligent explorations of identity and displacement. The added charge in Chiew's work comes from her impressive range-her clever, nuanced and varied stories are perfectly balanced.'-Vanessa Gebbie