Description
Praise
About the Author

Singapore - a trading post where different lives jostle and mix. It is 1927, and three young people are starting to question whether this inbetween island can ever truly be their home. Mei Lan comes from a famous Chinese dynasty but yearns to free herself from its stifling traditions; ten-year-old Howard seethes at the indignities heaped on his fellow Eurasians by the colonial British; Raj, fresh off the boat from India, wants only to work hard and become a successful businessman. As the years pass, and the Second World War sweeps through the east, with the Japanese occupying Singapore, the three are thrown together in unexpected ways, and tested to breaking point.

Richly evocative, A Different Sky paints a scintillating panorama of thirty tumultuous years in Singapore's history through the passions and struggles of characters the reader will find it hard to forget.
“Chand proves herself a master of the modern Asian epic in this tale …she endows her characters with humanity and complexity, …grounding …their histories in solid research, and she offers a credible, compelling panorama of the tragedy and resilience, culture and individuality, political evolution, dissolution, and renaissance of 20th-century Singapore.”
-Publishers Weekly

“A sweeping novel … A Different Sky is a fully engaging experience. The protagonists are richly and deeply drawn, the sights, sounds, and smells of Singapore are gorgeously rendered, and the principal characters’ interwoven stories combine to form a compelling narrative… Chand’s extensive knowledge of Singapore’s eccentricities brilliantly colors the novel, adding an indelible layer of authenticity to the central stories… an emotionally satisfying and historically enlightening experience.”
-Booklist

“…a panoramic page-turner…The epic sweep..[of]…this meticulously researched book is alive with engrossing detail…”
-The Guardian
“…puts Singapore on the literary map.”
-Tatler

“A Different Sky is historical fiction at its most complex and engaging…Chand balances the communist groupings, Japanese occupation and emerging nationalism with skill…As history A Different Sky is engrossing: as fiction, highly enjoyable.”
-Literary Review

“…sweeping Singapore drama…an ambitious look at the effects of political upheaval upon a generation…an illuminating and interesting book.”
-Waterstones

“…[an] extraordinary book…I thoroughly recommend it.”
-Daily Mail
Born and educated in London, Meira Chand is of Swiss-Indian parentage. She studied art at St Martin’s School of Art & Design and later taught art at an international school in Japan before turning to writing. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Western Australia.

Publishers

A Different Sky