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.

Such an impressively written psychological and literary plot to me— the twisted element in its conflicts were so darkly addictive that I think this would be the most damaged group of characters could ever existed in a plot. Interesting on how the ‘bad fruit’ that specifically related to spoiled orange juice in this story could represents the unpleasant ‘acidity’ of its character’s relationships as well. 4 stars to this! It is unfortunate that it also relies on an exoticised vision of Singapore, refracted through May's twisted memories and Lily's tourist perspective. This story is about one of the most dysfunctional and toxic families it would ever be your misfortune to meet. Let’s meet the family: wow. a book about complicated familial relationships and generational trauma?? say no more, i'm sold.Despite the heavy subject matter, the novel, at least initially, is prevented from feeling truly gloomy by Lily’s narration and her small support network. Ella King's novel is one of the most intriguing novels I have read in a long time focusing on family dysfunction and child abuse. Lily is about to begin her studies at Oxford but trying to endure the final months at home with her difficult mother, May. Lily is the youngest of three siblings whose parents are Singaporean, May, and British, Charlie. Jacob and Julia have left home. Jacob is already divorced with two young children. Julia swears she will never get married or have children. Charlie is a forensic pathologist and comes and goes at irregular intervals, sometimes for days. 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 Emily: You developed the first three chapters of your novel with Spread the Word – can you tell us a little bit about this opportunity and how you found the process? 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.

I’ve seen stories like this glaze over what these dynamics are like, but Bad Fruit doesn’t pull punches. The beauty and the ugliness of family is laid bare. Sometimes literally. I devoured this, was completely gripped. Beautiful, astounding for a debut novel’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ At some point in the book, I even questioned myself about feeling someone else’s trauma as I am very interested in the ability for your body to keep trauma. Could it be passed on to you from your ancestors? So here I am again, standing at the fridge door, my tongue clinging to the roof of my mouth. Blood orange juice, three days off. I try it, gag and spit it down the plughole. Perfect.This book does deal with the subject of abuse and trauma, and although the subjects are covered with great care and obvious research this may be a trigger for some readers. Just graduated from high school and waiting to start college at Oxford, Lily lives under the scrutiny of her volatile Singaporean mother, May, and is unable to find kinship with her elusive British father, Charlie. When May suspects that Charlie is having an affair, there's only one thing that calms May down: a glass of perfectly spoiled orange juice served by Lily, who must always taste it first to make sure it's just right. However, at its peak, I felt that the author came just shy of emotionally manipulating the reader. Any more abuse and it would have felt gratuitous, in my opinion. Without revealing too much, we view the story from the point of view of Lily, a girl about to go off to Oxford. She struggles with the idea of leaving her close relationship with her mother behind, particularly as we gradually see the twisted dependence between mother and daughter. Would Lily's 'mama' function without her daughter, her 'doll'? The 'Bad Fruit' of the title is not just the referring to the mother's taste for soured juice, but giving us a metaphorical insight into the impact parenting can have on the trajectory of children's lives from generation to generation. We are left wondering what really lies at the heart of this strange family and how any of them can escape the destructive cycle of dependence and anger we bear witness to.