By Raffles Press

Raffles Reads is a collaboration between Raffles Press and Times Reads which aims to promote reading culture among Singaporean students. For the past two weeks, as part of our Holiday Book Bonanza, we’ve been posting reviews of a variety of books, from Young Adult dystopian fiction to thought-provoking commentaries on the world we live in today.

We loved reading them, and now we want you to have the chance to love them too. Or maybe a family member, a friend, a loved one who wants nothing more than a book as a gift.

And what better way to pass on the joy of reading these books than through a giveaway?

By Clara Shen (20A01A) and Kelly Leong (20S07C)

Wondering what to get for your loved ones for Christmas? To us, books certainly make great gifts. And you’re in the right place—Raffles Reads is a new column which aims to promote reading culture among Singaporean students. The books, reviewed by Raffles Press writers, have been provided courtesy of Times Reads.

No one wants to remember the Japanese Occupation, most certainly not Wang Di. In fact, even at the deathbed of her ailing husband, Soon Wei, she still tries to completely avoid the topic of her war experiences. 

This inability of Wang Di to confront her past sets up the novel. From where her husband goes every year on the 12th of February, to what happened to the child she was not to speak of, How We Disappeared is full of secrets that need uncovering. Through the eyes of two very different characters, one is taken on a journey to understand the scars that the Japanese Occupation has left on many in Singapore.