Ponti
Published on 18. April 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-5098-5533-9 (ISBN)
Description
'Remarkable' - Ian McEwan
Shortlisted for Hearsts' Big Book Award 2018.
Set in 2003 in the sweltering heat of Singapore, Sharlene Teo's Ponti begins as sixteen-year-olds Szu and Circe develop an intense friendship. For Szu it offers an escape from Amisa, her beautiful, cruel mother - once an actress, and now the silent occupant of a rusty house. But for Circe, their friendship does the opposite, bringing her one step closer to the fascinating, unknowable Amisa.
Seventeen years later, Circe finds herself adrift and alone. And then a project comes up at work, a remake of the cult seventies horror film series 'Ponti', the same series that defined Amisa's short-lived film career. Suddenly Circe is knocked off balance: by memories of the two women she once knew, by guilt, and by a lost friendship that threatens her conscience . . .
Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2019.
Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Fiction, with a Sense of Place Award.
Shortlisted for Hearsts' Big Book Award 2018.
Set in 2003 in the sweltering heat of Singapore, Sharlene Teo's Ponti begins as sixteen-year-olds Szu and Circe develop an intense friendship. For Szu it offers an escape from Amisa, her beautiful, cruel mother - once an actress, and now the silent occupant of a rusty house. But for Circe, their friendship does the opposite, bringing her one step closer to the fascinating, unknowable Amisa.
Seventeen years later, Circe finds herself adrift and alone. And then a project comes up at work, a remake of the cult seventies horror film series 'Ponti', the same series that defined Amisa's short-lived film career. Suddenly Circe is knocked off balance: by memories of the two women she once knew, by guilt, and by a lost friendship that threatens her conscience . . .
Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2019.
Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Fiction, with a Sense of Place Award.
Reviews / Votes
Remarkable . . . her characters glow with life and humour and minutely observed desperation -- Ian McEwan A radiant, achingly beautiful novel about relationships between women -- Megan Hunter, author of <i>The End We Start From</i> A triumph: a nuanced examination of betrayal and grief, memory and the corrupting effects of beauty * Sunday Times * Ponti is one of the more assured debuts I've read recently . . . it's the rare, real deal and Teo's a writer we'll be reading for many years to come * Financial Times * An unforgettable story of female friendship * Elle Magazine * A vivid coming-of-age debut . . . seamless . . . Teo is brilliant in her portrayal of teenage anxiety * Guardian * One of the most exciting books I have read in ages . . . as funny as it is strange, it is complex as it is light . . . it deserves prizes -- Nikesh Shukla A startlingly poetic and impressive debut * Independent * Witty, moving and richly evocative . . . Sharlene Teo has produced not just a singular debut, but a milestone in South East Asian literature -- Tash Aw, author of <i>Five Star Billionaire</i> Haunting . . . Sharlene Teo is a daring and genuinely original novelist -- Garth Greenwell, author of <i>What Belongs to You</i> Vivid, disquieting * Daily Mail * Teo's debut stands out from the crowd . . . the offbeat charm of this lush tale proves a stealthy delivery mechanism for a quiet tragedy of intergenerational misunderstanding * Metro * Strange and compelling . . . a breath of fictional fresh air -- Shena Mackay, Kate Summerscale, and Owen Sheers, judges of the Deborah Rogers Writers Award Spanning 17 years and told from the perspectives of all three women, Ponti is a stunning first novel with a wry, rebellious heart * AnOther * The loneliness of adolescence is a monstrosity manifesting in equally ugly and poetic ways. Ponti is a weird and beautiful bildungsroman and Teo's writing shines as totally radical * The Skinny * Ponti is darkly hilarious. It offers up all the anxiety, snark, sadness, and wonder of being a teenager. Teo guides us through the grunge of growing up. She asks what it means to be a monster and what it means to be beautiful. Is it possible to be both? -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of <i>Harmless Like You</i> A sticky, atmospheric tale of resentment and loneliness * Tatler * Teo's portrait of Singapore is so good it would not be a surprise if Ponti were a contender for the next Ondaatje Prize, awarded to a work that best evokes "spirit of a place". People talk about "the great American novel", or, in Britain, "the state of the nation novel". Ponti is a great Singaporean novel, and a marvelous investigation of the state of the tiny island nation * South China Morning Post * You know those books you can read again? And again? And again? Well, prepare for Sharlene Teo's incredible Ponti . . . a densely layered story of a fading horror actress, Amisa; her unhappy teenage daughter, Szu and her acid-tongued best friend, Circe, which jumps from generations, decades and viewpoints, weaving in unsettling myths to boot . . . entrancing . . . A modern gem * Emerald Street * Ponti's cultural commentary and multi-generational chorus of voices do indeed recall White Teeth [by Zadie Smith], while its unflinching depiction of young female friendship echoes Smith's most recent, Swing Time . . . by the time the novel has finished, there is no denying Amisa's dream has been realised. These three women and their stories will live on; they have been made immortal. * Independent Ireland * Exquisite, lush and menacing . . . the Singapore in Sharlene Teo's Ponti is vivid and immediate, its people complex, beautifully sketched and captivating . . . colourful and bewitching * TLS * Funny, achingly dark and drawn with scalpel-like precision, Ponti is one of the wittiest debut novels of 2018 * The Pool * Ponti by Sharlene Teo is a sultry, hilarious dissection of mother-daughter relationships, and the effect of time and teenagehood on friendships, against the backdrop of Singapore B-movies. It oozes confidence. -- Nikesh Shukla * Guardian, Best summer books 2018 * On their own, Teo's sharp characterizations and setting-so alive that the book seems to create its own, humid microclimate-would set this book apart. Add to that her imaginative plot, prose that turns from humor to devastation on a dime, and original storytelling, and Ponti is a beyond-promising debut. * Booklist (starred review) * The story, told with dark humor by an exciting new voice, navigates the intricacies and weirdness of human connections, and the impressions they leave behind * Huffington Post *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
219 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5098-5533-9 (9781509855339)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sharlene Teo was born in Singapore in 1987. She has an LLB in Law from the University of Warwick and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she received the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship and the David TK Wong Creative Writing award. She was shortlisted for the Berlin Writing Prize and holds fellowships from the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and the University of Iowa International Writing Program. In 2016, she won the inaugural Deborah Rogers Writer's Award for Ponti, her first novel.