Written in the first person and structured as a series of journals, this novel recounts the stories of three Singapore women of different generations. They are Tai Ku, her adopted daughter Yoke-lin, and Yoke-lin's daughter Yenti, the one who unveils to us the stories of the former two.
Sold to a brothel-keeper as a sixteen-year-old during the great famine in the Malayan Peninsula, Tai Ku is first bought by a tin-miner, later married to a butcher, and then becomes the matriarch of the household. Yoke-lin, whose mother was killed by her trishaw-driver husband after giving birth to their sixth daughter, hopes to regain her security through a proper marriage. Unfortunately, she is first married to Ah Chong, who does not love or even care for her, and after giving birth to a daughter his
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Citation: Lai, Amy. "Gift from the Gods". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11869, accessed 25 November 2024.]
