Foreign Bodies Tpb

Mei, a young Singaporean lawyer, is awakened one night by a phone call from her English boyfriend, Andy. He's in Singapore, working as a substitute teacher because of the downsized job market in England. But now, suddenly, he's been arrested, accused of running an international soccer gambling ring. He swears he's been framed. Eugene - Mei's friend through childhood and Andy's best friend from college - arrives from Holland to help. They have nine days to prove Andy's innocence. With incisive wit and street-smart language, Hwee Hwee Tan takes us into the hearts and minds of these international Gen-Xers. In their twenties, just out of college, they are let loose in a world teeming with global pop culture icons, techno-thrills, and superheroes, but one where jobs and justice are elusive and where "the good suffer and the bad go on to live happy lives. End of story." Their search to find a code to live by - legal, spiritual, and among family and friends - is at the center of this startlingly original novel. As Mei and Eugene search for evidence, secrets from the past - the "foreign bodies" hidden within them - begin to surface. Abuse, murder, and lies. Will revealing their secrets to one another set Andy free or destroy their future? Fusing pop culture with Christian mysticism and Taoist ritual, moving from voice to voice, from past to present and from Singapore to England to Holland and back, Hwee Hwee Tan exposes their hungry souls with brave and dazzling power.