Stamford Hospital - by Thammika Songkaeo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Tarisa is at her wit's end when Mia's coughs disrupt sleep. The ambitious woman had not envisioned a long-term life in Singapore as a full-time parent. When Chris had declared their permanent home here without warning-- just months into their marriage-- Tarisa had begrudgingly succumbed, unable to fight his reason: being an Asian man in the US was difficult; in Singapore, he felt free. Hospitalizing Mia, Tarisa reflects on this marriage. Chris has become a man she barely knows, especially as a romantic partner. He is unable to experience lust. As a father to Mia, however, Chris is close to perfect. Tarisa uses Mia's warded time to linger in the library and to attend dance classes and performances-- what an " ordinary" mother wouldn't do. Yet, for her, these spaces unlock rippling thoughts that confront the demons of her own motherhood and the grief of vowing her life to a man who does not respond to her body. When she finally returns to the hospital, Chris springs on Tarisa a drug that could reverse his asexuality, but choosing it isn't such an easy choice.

About the Author

Thammika Songkaeo is a transnational novelist, nonfiction writer, and film producer of Thai origin, whose lived experiences in India, Uganda, Rwanda, the United States, and Singapore have informed the making of Stamford Hospital, her debut novel following a nomination to the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference, which she attended on a Katharine Bakeless Nason Scholarship, a fellowship to the Comparative Literature PhD programme of the University of Texas at Austin, and a grant from the Smithsonian FreerSackler Galleries. She earned the highest honours for her study of French Literature at Williams College and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Vermont College of Fine Arts before becoming a Storytelling grantee of the National Geographic Society in 2022 and continuing a transnational gaze on stories of the relationship between womanhood and society. Her writing, including a feature of monologues, has appeared in Ninth Letter and in World Literature Today online, and for the Singapore National Library Board. When not writing, she can be found working on social and environmental issues through her company, Two Glasses LLP, designing experiences that transform how people think and feel about their identity and planetary mayhem.