Disunited Nations: International School Mums At War

Living the expat life in Singapore just got crazier for Sarah, her husband Jason and their two children, Ruby and Eric, who are back in this sequel to Stephanie Suga Chen’s debut novel Travails of a Trailing Spouse.

With Ruby done with kindergarten, it’s time for Primary 1 enrolment, and Sarah and Jason decide to give the local school system a chance. But that brings them into a completely unfamiliar world, raising more questions than answers for Sarah, including: Should they queue overnight to secure a place in the school? Do the schools really prescribe how long a student’s nails can be? And why are dull-as-ditchwater English compositions valued more than creative, imaginative writing?

They switch Ruby to an international school, but discover that this doesn’t make their lives issue-free. In addition to adjusting to sky-high fees and a much less structured academic environment, Sarah finds herself grappling with adult-size problems when she gets involved in the school’s high-pressure, high-expectations and possibly even racist Parent Teacher Association.

After she gets dragged into a school scandal and ends up being blackballed by the PTA, which is led by her dear old friend — make that former friend — Ashley Sanders, she can only stop and wonder, How did her life come to this?