Nine Yard Sarees

Winner of the 2024 Singapore Literature Prize

Grandmother. Mothers. Daughters. Aunts. Girlfriends. Beloved. Estranged. Becoming.

Prasanthi Ramâs award-winning debut is a multigenerational portrait of nine women within and beyond one Tamil Brahmin family, the Srinivasans.

Nine Yard Sarees takes us from 1950s India to contemporary Singapore, Australia and the US through eleven interconnected stories. Following these women across decades as they navigate oppressive structures such as patriarchy, casteism and homophobia, this story cycle is a resonant portrayal of the evolving diasporic experience â" full of humour, grief, heart and unforgettable characters.

âAn uncommonly rich and precise debut, closely observed, magically empathetic and formally ambitious. If you love the stories of Jhumpa Lahiri, you will love this.â Jee Leong Koh

âWith visceral writing and razor-sharp characterisation, Ram masterfully traverses the grey areas that surround our family lives.â VOGUE Singapore

âSings and swells in all its polyphonic glory.â The Straits Times

âA thoroughly enjoyable and meaningful work of fiction about family, community and the reverberations of migration and displacement.â Balli Kaur Jaswal

âA gripping, masterfully crafted work that is both haunting and comforting. I read it in one night.â Akshita Nanda

âA unique perspective on the immigrant experience. Nine Yard Sarees expresses the power of family, the fortitude of women, and the resilience of the human spirit.â Latha

âPopulated by a rich cast of characters you immediately fall in love with, these linked stories are bursting at the seams with tenderness and heart.â Cheryl Julia Lee