Bad Fruit

Product Information

Bad Fruit is a truly memorable debut novel. A cleverly layered story of inherited trauma, a complex and damaged family dynamic, identity, trust, growth and a young woman understanding that the hardest thing she can do might just be the thing that saves her. the premise was interesting and the novel started off strong. it hooked me from the very first line and i was so intrigued by the story that i read the first act in one sitting. the writing was good, too, and the story was executed well. This is the story of Lily and the abuse she's been dealt by her neurotic and cruel Singaporean mother. A disturbing mother and daughter relationship; a family overflowing with secrets. Bad Fruit is dark, compelling and beautifully written”

This is an exceptional novel about a toxic mother-daughter relationship and I found it extremely difficult to put down. It's definitely psychological in nature but I don't know if I'd call it a thriller. More like fiction or literary fiction as another reviewer noted. I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to give anything away. I'll just say that I was emotionally wrung out by the ending which I really liked by the way. Another really engaging thread to this book is Lily’s interest in etymology. As a parallel to exploring her own roots, Lily’s love of the origin of language is woven throughout by giving us lovely descriptions like this: 'The Latin root for ‘hallucinate’ is irresistibly beautiful, alucinari, something you would name a Victorian child.' On the surface, Lily’s life looks idyllic but it soon becomes clear that it’s far from that, revealed to us through her unique coping techniques, including the safe space she creates in her attic bedroom: 'Here’s where I keep me, in this hole under the floorboards.' This story is about one of the most dysfunctional and toxic families it would ever be your misfortune to meet. Let’s meet the family: The story builds to become one that you just can't stop reading. I was walking around the flat, feeding the cat, making my lunch, brushing my teeth and my Kindle was with me while I just had to keep reading.Such an impressively written psychological and literary plot to me— the twisted element in its conflicts were so darkly addictive that I think this would be the most damaged group of characters could ever existed in a plot. Interesting on how the ‘bad fruit’ that specifically related to spoiled orange juice in this story could represents the unpleasant ‘acidity’ of its character’s relationships as well. 4 stars to this!

However, the foundations of their relationship are crumbling and we’re right there with Lily as she finds out exactly why… The story is dense but not completely dark. It’s lightened by Lily’s engaging character and the author’s unique writing style. It was a pleasure to read fresh and sophisticated wording and my literary appreciation was balanced with the weighty subject matter.

Success!

The dysfunctional (and abusive) relationship between Lily and her mother is the focus, but the rest of her family doesn’t fare well either. In addition, other hidden issues surface during the course of the story. A compelling debut that fizzes with tension from start to finish, blending the subtle erudition of literary fiction with the drama and suspense of the very best thrillers. Masterful in its evocation of the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, this is a darkly fascinating, tightly plotted narrative from a writer to watch.” Disturbing, poignant and memorable all at once- an exploration of a very dark relationship between a daughter and her mother.” Having little knowledge of things Singaporean, I loved the cultural descriptions too. Food shopping, preparation, and cooking were almost characters themselves and I chortled a bit with the mention of calamari in particular.