A layered narrative of Singapore and the Malay community in the 1960s and 1970s

NEVERNESS By Fairoz Ahmad Fiction/Ethos Books/Paperback/ 226 pages/$24

- Clement Yong

NEVERNESS By Fairoz Ahmad Fiction/Ethos Books/Paperback/ 226 pages/$24 ★★★★½

Propulsive mystery blends easily with fertile recreation of kampung life in this easy-on-the-eye bildungsroman by Singapore author Fairoz Ahmad.

Alia, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, has disappeared, and the Malay village of Engku Aman in Geylang Serai is scandalised.

A late-night search and passing time reveal increasingly disturbing facts. Before her disappearance, Alia had supposedly gone to an out-of-the-way grocer for bread, a 50-minute errand her father had inexplicably sent her on in the dead of night.

And when this is coupled with a grocer known for her tempestuous temper, plus the revelation that Alia was wearing an expensive bracelet, speculations abound but softly, insinuatingly, as some accusations are not meant to be spoken out loud.

Fairoz's protagonist is Miriam, who recounts the fateful episode, her fragmented knowledge the reader's source of partial information as she treads her way carefully through the puzzle.