Hot off the presses, Stephanie Suga’s Chen’s debut novel, Travails of a Trailing Spouse (Straits Times Press, 2018), reveals the thrills and frustrations of a group of expatriates living in Singapore.
After a 15+ year career in finance and investing, Stephanie discovered a passion for fiction writing after moving to Singapore as a “trailing spouse”. In one remarkable year, she wrote, found a publisher for, and released the novel. Billed as “fictionalized memoir”, Stephanie has Singapore, expat and non-expats alike, guessing how much of her Crazy Rich Asian-like novel is based on real events. Was her husband really arrested? Did she really find mould growing all over her apartment? Is the real Chad Sanders roaming about in Singapore? Well-paced and action-packed, Travails of a Trailing Spouse delivers a fun and entertaining read.
The adventure starts when Sarah's husband, Jason, is offered a position at a university in Singapore. Sarah, a successful lawyer in the US, quits her job and the couple say their farewells, put their home up on Craigslist, and, with their two children, fly off to a completely new life.
The country is easy enough to adapt to (though the prices of some things? Jaw-dropping!) and Sarah and Jason soon meet the other expats in the condo.
There’s Carys, the teacher, and good-looking Ian; Ashley, who keeps her apartment freezingly air-conditioned round the clock, and Chad, her amiable husband; Sara, who, like Sarah, is Asian-American, and John, who travels often for work. The couples form a close-knit group and their evenings are soon filled with poolside barbecues, Trivia Nights, dinners, drinks and more drinks.
But is it time to put the brakes on the hedonism when Jason and Chad are arrested after a pub brawl? Why, with an unbelievably fantastic lifestyle, is Sarah starting to feel listless? Why does John keep taking solo trips and when will Sara’s brave front finally crack? Who’s that woman with Ian in the lift? And what secret is Carys keeping from her friends?
Not a simplistic, straightforward novel of one-dimensional characters, Travails of a Trailing Spouse will strike a chord with anyone, expat or not, who has ever found life more complicated, puzzling, thrilling, frustrating – and, ultimately, deliciously rich – than could ever have been imagined.
Travails of a Trailing Spouse (Straits Times Press, 2018) is available in all leading bookstores in Singapore, and in the US from Amazon. Other international orders can be made direct from the publisher, ST Press Books.
About the Author:
Stephanie Suga Chen is a former partner of a New York City-based investment fund. A Taiwanese-American, she grew up in Michigan and moved to Singapore in 2012 with her husband, two children, and ageing cocker spaniel. Connect with Stephanie at her website here or on Facebook here
