Separation: A History

The sequel to The Law of Second Marriages, the best-selling and critically acclaimed poetry book by Christine. With "terrifying sparseness and intensity", as Cyril Wong observes, Christine threads together stories of the Separation between Singapore and Malaysia with the separation between her parents. Her searing vision, ambitious and intimate, opens up emotional spaces in unlikely places.

"Christine's writing balances a journalist's clarity with a poet's desire to color and invent. In this boldly innovative book, she tells how the history of a family and that of a nation curiously come to mirror each other. By alternating poems with news clippings, photos, and google searches, she also creates a dialogue between public and private, personal and political, fact and fantasy. At times, the effect is poignant, at times playful, but in every instance, Christine proves she knows how "to love/ like an economist" and make every word shine." - Elaine Equi, author of Click and Clone