SHARLENE. TEO

Set in Singapore, and spanning fifty years, Ponti is a sweeping story of three women and the guilt that ties them to each other. For fans of Zadie Smith and Elena Ferrante.

Ponti

Sharlene Teo

'Remarkable . . . her characters glow with life and humour' Ian McEwan2003. Singapore. Friendless and fatherless, sixteen-year-old Szu lives in the shadow of her mother Amisa, once a beautiful actress and now a hack medium performing séances with her sister in a rusty house. When Szu meets the privileged, acid-tongued Circe, they develop an intense friendship which offers Szu an escape from her mother's alarming solitariness, and Circe a step closer to the fascinating, unknowable Amisa.Seventeen years later, Circe is struggling through a divorce in fraught and ever-changing Singapore when a project comes up at work: a remake of the cult seventies horror film series 'Ponti', the very project 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 past that threatens her conscience . . .Told from the perspectives of all three women, Ponti by Sharlene Teo is an exquisite story of friendship and memory spanning decades. Infused with mythology and modernity, with the rich sticky heat of Singapore, it is at once an astounding portrayal of the gaping loneliness of teenagehood, and a vivid exploration of how tragedy can make monsters of us.

I always try to read books set in locations I am travelling to, and this was a great choice for spending a week in Singapore.

It's written from the point of view of three women, Amisa, Szu (Amisa's daughter) and Circe (Szu's high school friend), and takes place from the 1970s to 2020. It's funny, sharp, but also quite sad and poignant, and is very good at bringing to life the hot and humid Singapore atmosphere.

Amisa stars in a cult series of horror films (Ponti), which isn't much of a success, so her film career pretty much ends with that. Most of Amisa's chapters are set in the 1970s, while Szu and Circe's are set in 2003 (when they are at high school) and 2020 (when Circe, who has since falled out with Szu, is asked to work on a remake of the forgotten Ponti films).

There's a lot of loss, grief and melancholy in the book, but it's also written with a wicked sense of humour, and as a "Singapore book" it's great, because you could say the city is almost the fourth character.

Mario Menti 

I always try to read books set in locations I am travelling to, and this was a great choice for spending a week in Singapore.

It's written from the point of view of three women, Amisa, Szu (Amisa's daughter) and Circe (Szu's high school friend), and takes place from the 1970s to 2020. It's funny, sharp, but also quite sad and poignant, and is very good at bringing to life the hot and humid Singapore atmosphere.

Amisa stars in a cult series of horror films (Ponti), which isn't much of a success, so her film career pretty much ends with that. Most of Amisa's chapters are set in the 1970s, while Szu and Circe's are set in 2003 (when they are at high school) and 2020 (when Circe, who has since falled out with Szu, is asked to work on a remake of the forgotten Ponti films).

There's a lot of loss, grief and melancholy in the book, but it's also written with a wicked sense of humour, and as a "Singapore book" it's great, because you could say the city is almost the fourth character.

l🌀

by the end of the first chapter I was completely sold & the prose never let up!!!! so much stamina. cant comment much on plot bc I AM this book’s target audience… 4 solid stars for a debut

Faith Ho 

Dear Ponti,

You're a story about a mother (Amisa) and a daughter (Szu); the daughter and her friend (Circe). Told through alternating chapters of perspective, at different points in time, you capture the individual experiences intersecting lives of the protagonists. 

That being said, I didn't particularly care for the story of Circe in the modern day, with the remake of "Ponti!" - I didn't feel anything about that, unlike Circe. Conversely, I felt the chapters from Amisa's point of view were far more interesting. The ending is satisfying enough, but some questions still remained unanswered for me.

I did enjoy the development of the relationships between the characters though: the strained mother-daughter ties made complex by Amisa's illness, and the portrayal of the friendship between Circe and Szu, as teenage girls. This is perhaps the most uncomfortable part for me to read; the awkwardness of adolescence, the painful growing and wanting; the selfishness and dependence of friendship. Some parts I felt were mincingly accurate; others, like the portrayal of the "popular girls" felt too much like a cliche out of American TV shows (though perhaps that is the point; not to show teenagers at that age being stereotypes, but teens judging others through those lenses - in a way, to justify their own uniqueness). 

While I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing personally - didn't love the descriptions at some places - the overall effect was still pretty enjoyable, and there were some parts that gave me pause.

jiaqi kang

A fitting debut. Too many dream sequences and the magical realism came way too late, and Amisa's storyline was a bit unnecessary, but apart from that, a vivid articulation of what it feels like to be a teenage girl who feels completely alienated from her own body and from other people and has no friends and feels like she's stuck.

Full review: http://taohuayun.blogspot.co.uk/2018/...

'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.

Moray Lyle McIntosh

Sadly, after reading so many glowing reviews, this didn't live up to my expectations. In three intersecting storylines it explores the relationships between Amisa, Szu and Circe. The first two are mother and daughter, while Szu and Circe are best friends. Amiss is a failed actress and divorcee whose work totals three cult horror films, Szu is a lonely teenager ostracized by her schoolmates and Circe is a wealthy new girl who befriends her. The different timelines show us Amisa as she moves to the city from a remote village, leaving her family behind and struggling to forge an independent path for herself. Szu's tale describes her teenage years just as Circe comes into her life, while Circe recalls the past as she works on a social media campaign for a glossy new remake of Amiss's cult classics.

The relationships are the heart of the novel and they are all thorny. Amisa has always been a distant mother, prone to directing streams of bitterness and disappointment at her daughter. Circe and Szu become close but struggle with rivalry and their developing personalities. The problem was that I didn't feel any real intensity in any of them. Their conflicts include sharp words they didn't seem to land, inspiring what felt like only lukewarm responses. Part of the problem was that so many of the interactions were reported rather than seen directly. Amisa certainly is not an attentive, loving mother but there is hardly any contact between her and her daughter, their relationship is central to everything that happens but it is virtually non-existent. This isn't necessarily a problem, indeed it could easily be the point and heart of the story, but it isn't explored to its full potential. Szu is sad that her mother seems to despise her, sometimes she is angry but i didn't feel either of these things in what felt like a meaningful way. It all seemed quite obvious and superficial.

The strength of the novel lies in Teo's talent for description. Singapore, whether in the 1950s, 2003 or 2020 is vividly brought to life. The suffocating heat, the sights, the smells of every setting from Amisa's home village the cinema where she works and Szu's dilapidated house are rich with colour and depth. The writing itself has some wonderfully crafted passages but the relatively thin plot and characterisation let it down.

Jade Flynn

Read for my 'Acceptable' N.E.W.T in Ancient Runes 2019 #magicalreadathon. Prompt - Read something recommended by a friend. Career choice - Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries Worker. Teo's first novel was a lot of hits and misses which is understandable. The themes discussed here such as female friendship and adolescence were touched on but I think Teo lacks the experience to really pack the punch and bring it home. The one thing I was disappointed by is that I wanted a more Singaporean sense of place, it could've been set anywhere if it wasn't stated.

Ponti

Reviews