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Rosie Milne

Sharlene Teo’s novel, told through the voices of three women and its title short for pontianak – the man-hunting female ghoul of Malay legend – is a book to enjoy line by line, so vivid and spot-on are its descriptions and observations

Singaporean author Clarissa Goenawan crafts an intriguing tale of a man whose life is sent spinning after his sister’s murder in a fictional Japanese town. Ren slips into the void left by his sister’s death, as he searches for answers

Mary Lynn Bracht’s novel examines the impact on families and South Korean society of Japanese troops abducting women and subjecting them to sexual slavery in wartime – ensuring they are not forgotten as they recede into history

Intricately plotted and audacious, Balli Kaur Jaswal’s story crashes through conventions to give voice to older women who in reality would have none in Punjabi society; the sex is a bonus

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Singapore’s fluid and diverse population means it has a unique take on affairs of the heart, and this intriguing anthology finds new things to say about that most endlessly analysed of emotions