BE ST L IT E RA RY WOR K FINALISTS
Fall Baby Publisher: Penguin Random House SEA First Publication Date: October 2019 ISBN: 9789814867146 Author: Laksmi Pamuntjak Language of Publication: English Synopsis: Fall Baby is the story of Srikandi, the illegitimate daughter of Amba and Bisma from The Question of Red. It is also the story of Dara, Srikandi’s best friend-turned foe, an ardent women rights’ activist. Srikandi—who prefers to be called by her nickname, Siri—is a globetrotting conceptual artist. Perpetually torn between East and West, her art mirrors her life in its quest for the ‘in-between,’ the ‘middle ground,’ the grey zones of human experience. Siri’s personal life, however, defies even her own imagination. Upon her return to Jakarta, she grows helplessly attached to her now deceased husband’s teenage daughter, Amalia, rediscovering in this new role what it truly means to be adopted and loved. After the death of her father, suspicious circumstances surface in her mother’s life, luring Siri to search for answers - namely the truth of her own origins, as well as the deep, dark secret that enveloped the lives of her biological parents. 20 SINGAPORE BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
