WHEN the novel Inheritance by Balli Kaur Jaswal debuted in 2013, it was hailed as one of the best first efforts by a Singaporean author in recent years. Well-plotted and lucidly written, it tells a story of a Punjabi family caught between tradition and modernity as Singapore rapidly progresses from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Harbeer the patriarch is a first-generation immigrant from India who has to raise three children and a nephew after the death of his wife. His first son Narain struggles to hide...