The Song of Silver Frond

One morning in Singapore, more than fifty years ago, The Venerable One, a wealthy, respected Chinese patriarch, head of a large household of wives, children and grandchildren, takes a walk by a cemetery. There, a young village girl, Silver Frond, is amusing herself with a comic song-and-dance act based on popular gossip - about him. The meeting changes their lives.

With characteristic verve and wit, Catherine Lim traces the path of this unusual couple as they struggle with the often conflicting forces of tradition and love.