NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED

The biggest mystery in this remarkable tale isn’t what the protagonist did, but why she remains on the run.

A fuchsia designer handbag functions as a totem, symbol, and clue to a wayward, waylaid Singaporean’s identity as she morphs from daughter to wanted criminal to longtime fugitive as capable of caregiving as she is of deception. The narrator, calling herself Ophir, unspools her story via podcast with just enough of a breadcrumb trail for her most beloved family member to follow. The cheeky title refers to many characters, but none as much as our narrator, whose chosen moniker—the name of a Biblical land full of gold—hints at her ambitions. The aforementioned pricey handbag she schleps from country to country was a gift from a beloved friend, Nirmala, who introduced Ophir—to reveal her other names would be unfair—to a shadowy world of money laundering and luxury. Although her success in that world didn’t last, Ophir understands that her existence—“I have a steely, white-hot drive to keep running at all costs in order to stay free”—rests on how easily she evades confession and capture. Part of Ophir’s urge to flee has to do with her identity as a lesbian; although she occasionally has sex with men, she’s under no illusion that she’s straight. “Attraction and lust, I understand,” she says. Ophir knows that going home to Singapore wouldn’t just mean going to brick-and-mortar prison, but the psychological kind of imprisonment that might set her back years. Her unusual trajectory has as much to do with her search for peace as it does with eluding the authorities, making this book completely different from many on-the-run trajectories. Readers will contend with storylines that include the colonial, the homophobic, and the racist, while falling under the spell of a person who believes she is hiding in plain sight. It’s an utterly original thieves’ confession you won’t be able to put down.

An unusual, compelling picaresque about a queer Asian woman evading arrest over many years and on several continents.