Bad Fruit: An astonishing, gripping new crime thriller debut novel from a hot literary fiction voice of 2023

Product Information

I devoured this, was completely gripped. Beautiful, astounding for a debut novel’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ While this book is not an easy read, it was an incredibly well-done portrayal of abuse and the complexities that can surround it. Overall, this is an incredibly well written novel that has you full of questions from the start and you do get answers. The pace is pitched extremely well and I genuinely couldn’t put it down as this is a psychological thriller that has you in its grip The novel is told from the perspective of Lily, an 18-year-old first generation British-Chinese woman and is largely about her relationship with her Chinese Peranakan mother. With two other siblings who have both moved out of home, Lily is having a crisis of identity, both her racial identity as multi-racial "ang moh gui, white devil", and coming of age and deciding where she ends and her mother begins, which is complicated by trauma. Looking different from her mother is problematic for them both: "It doesn't escape me: her whitening her skin while I'm yellowing mine." Their love language is food and culture. Peranakan food "the taste of okak otak, fish cake grilled in banana leaves, the deep spice of bak kut teh, pork rib tea" are the ways they connect, and sour juice (for which the book is named), is the way they rip apart. Ella: I’ve always wanted to write a novel but it wasn’t until I was on maternity leave that it began to take shape. There’s something about looking after a baby that pulls you into your own interiority. I’d walk around pushing my pram, observing my surroundings but also thinking about my volunteer work with womens’ charities. The collision of those two aspects (which essentially formed the setting and theme of Bad Fruit) was electric, suddenly, I knew what I wanted to write about. Any time my daughter fell asleep, I’d throw myself down on the nearest bench and write.

This book was more than just a thriller to me, it was about the characters, especially Lily and learning along with her. Ella King has done a wonderful job of building the story in a way that makes you feel like you are going at the same pace as Lily. Ella takes time to let you as a reader learn what the family dynamic is like and form your own questions on what has made the characters the way they are. The subjects of abuse, generational trauma and their effects are covered very well in my opinion and I felt like I truly learned something from reading this book. It’s the summer holidays, and Lily is waiting for the fall when she’ll commence her first year at Oxford. Until then, she must continue to single-handedly manage her mother’s erratic moods since her father and siblings are incapable of doing so. From preparing her mother’s favourite Singaporean meals to altering her appearance to look more like her, Lily will do just about anything to avoid her mother’s wrath. The story is absolutely messed up and often very messy, which the author captures perfectly in writing, managing to still portray each and every one of the characters in a relatable way, even at their craziest, which is no mean feat and makes this a masterpiece of storytelling. If you’ve struggled with abuse relationships of any kind then be wary before diving into this masterpiece, this could be triggering for you.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.

For fans of My Dark Vanessa and Celeste Ng, Bad Fruit is an unforgettable portrayal of a toxic mother-daughter relationship and a young woman's search for truth and liberation. It is unfortunate that it also relies on an exoticised vision of Singapore, refracted through May's twisted memories and Lily's tourist perspective. Sarah May describes Bad Fruit as ‘a beautiful collision of mothers and daughters, human darkness and human kindness.’ What is it about the mother-daughter relationship that fascinates you as a writer? Lily is such a moving protagonist, even when she is trapped under her mother’s thumb. We spend the novel following her attempts to change the status quo and undo the cycle of violence, as she tries and fails.However, the foundations of their relationship are crumbling and we’re right there with Lily as she finds out exactly why… She said: “I’m blown away by the response to Bad Fruit.It’s remarkable to see characters who’ve only existed in my mind deeply moving people in the world. I can’t thank my agent Hellie Ogden at Janklow & Nesbit enough for finding Bad Fruitits home at HarperFiction, and I’m beyond excited to work with the exceptionally talented Charlotte Brabbin to publish Bad Fruit with passion.”