Novel about a singaporean girl in Paris

Sciences Po Alumnus and French government scholarship holder Publishes Debut Novel About a Singapore Girl’s Adventures in France

Imran Hashim, a Singaporean graduate of Sciences Po, is launching his debut novel, Annabelle Thong, in the Lion City. The novel, longlisted for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2015, traces the adventures of a Singaporean schoolteacher who flees to Paris to find the perfect French boyfriend. In the process, her worldview is turned on its head, as she experiences culture shock in France.

Imran, 41, wrote the novel over a period of six years as a love-letter to Paris, a city that he considers as his second home. He started writing his novel while he was still living there, and considers himself an accidental novelist.

I was lucky to be awarded a French Government Scholarship by the Embassy of France in Singapore, and I did my Masters degree at Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Sciences Po in Paris. While in France, I often wrote e-mails to friends and family back home, to keep them updated and also as a journaling exercise. These emails were well-received, and a few friends even told me I should compile them into a book. This was what motivated me to start writing a novel. In 2015, I submitted the manuscript for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2015, and was overjoyed when it made the longlist for the prize.

Photo of Imran Hashim (Photo Credit: Chun Pang for Epigram Books)

Imran Hashim will be present at the next Singapore Writers Festival. 

Synopsis:
Devout Catholic schoolteacher Annabelle Thong never thought her chastity was a liability – until she runs away to Paris to find Prince Charming.

Enrolling herself at the Sorbonne, she meets the suave Patrick Dudoigt, but he’s the one temptation she MUST resist. Annabelle’s belief system is challenged on all fronts, and her naïveté is seen as gauche in the City of Love. Guilt and confusion make for dangerous bedfellows, and when her fellow university students enthusiastically combine reading and rioting, Annabelle can’t help but wonder if everyone’s gone mad – or is it just her? 

Annabelle Thong takes a hilarious look at the sparks that fly when East meets West, and the passions these ignite.

About the Publisher:

Epigram Books is Singapore’s largest independent publisher. Having garnered a reputation for its well-designed and thought-provoking titles, the company was registered in July 2011 to champion Singaporean literature, and currently publishes an average of 30 to 40 titles every year.
Popular titles include the bestselling graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, middle grade series The Diary of Amos Lee and the Harry picture book series. The company also made headlines in 2015 for initiating the Epigram Books Fiction Prize, Singapore’s richest literary award, in the hopes of uncovering the next great Singaporean novel.