Travel to Singapore, Tokyo, Colombo, and St. Louis with Alison Lester's challenging, charming characters as they grapple with a sense of dislocation and the nagging possibility of betrayal that accompanies new beginnings.
In “Locked Out,” investigate the marriage of a woman confronted by her first gray hairs and her husband's sexy Japanese assistant. In “Being Japanese,” wonder along with the dying young Japanese woman why it is that being Japanese takes such a toll on a body. In “Tiptoe,” arrive in Singapore with a young New Hampshire wife and feel her bewilderment as she becomes a magnet for a deeply unhappy child. In “The War of the Worlds,” see things from the other way around, as an American boy spends an unexpected afternoon with a German immigrant to his neighborhood.
Lester writes evocatively about the many facets of being far from home or uncomfortable where home is. Factor in the honest and amusing dialogue, and Lester's graceful prose, and the result is a very genuine collection of stories that will appeal to seasoned and armchair travelers alike.
Alison Jean Lester was born and educated in the United States, and has lived in the UK, Italy, China, Taiwan, Japan and now Singapore. Lester is the great great great-granddaughter of Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne, Charles Dickens's illustrator) and the daughter of author Valerie Lester and author and jazz musician James Lester.
“Sharply observed debut collection of stories places ex-pat English-speakers in exotic locales. The title story is an unsparing look at the life of an American wife and mother living in Tokyo who suspects her executive husband is having an affair with his sleek assistant. Caring for her young son in the couple's luxurious Tokyo apartment, she finally befriends her obliging Korean neighbor Sook Young, who, like her, is a size 10. "Needing Ice," again set in Tokyo, concerns an older Canadian teacher who is sought out by one of her fragile female students for advice after the girl is struck by her boyfriend. The narrator, Margaret, goes to have a talk with the boy and discovers something surprising. "Bill's Bones" chronicles a middle-aged Australian lady's return to the Indonesian Club Med resort where her husband, Bill, drowned after an argument the year before. In the concluding piece, "Really Trying to Get Somewhere," a pair of jaded, eight-years-married travel agents go on a junket to Sri Lanka-and fare rather badly. Unable to summon the enthusiasm for a meaningful connection with each other, they drink to excess at parties and horse races. Unapologetic, critical observations of disgruntled English speakers in faraway places.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“This collection of short stories, the debut book by Singapore-based Lester, is a surprisingly evocative look at the expatriate experience. Whether young or old, rich or poor, or living in Tokyo or Singapore, the characters embody that strange, ambiguous and sometimes surreal world that all foreigners are familiar with.”
–The Sunday Times
“Lester's direct, straightforward storytelling—reminiscent of Nadine Gordimer—compellingly drives the narratives, and characters' honesty in the face of cultural dislocation transcends political correctness. And that's the appeal of these stories: as a writer Lester gets out of the way, allowing discoveries, flip-flops ... and messiness. The writing is quirky, insightful, and most of all, honest. This Singapore-based author has taken the charting of expatriate life, and created an original niche.”
–The Asian Review of Books
“In this brilliant book, Alison Lester has mapped out a new and tiny country located somewhere between expatriate and patriot, foreigner and native, woman and human being”
–Alicia Erian, author of Towelhead and The Brutal Language of Love
“These taut little stories, spare and exact, not only put an insightfully quirky finger on the pulse of expatriate life but touch the difficult business of living itself. An original voice full of residue”
–Meira Chand, author of A Far Horizon
