A really hard read at times but in an uncomfortable this feels too real kind of way. I enjoyed but I'm left feeling somber, particularly after the authors notes.

Unfortunately I read this when long-term sick and so while I noted a star rating, at the time I didn't have capacity for reviews for everything I was reading, and am only now just getting round to giving my feedback. Sorry that's not super helpful

Great and very thought provoking read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Unless you've lived in or have spent time in family homes in places such as South East Asia or the Middle East, the idea of a domestic helper may seem pretty foreign to you. And that is the exact reason you need to read this book.

Jaswal has done an excellent job in describing the flavours and charms of Singapore's streets whilst also shining a light on the side of the country that many don't see. And I say this as someone who has lived there. It is clean. It is efficient. It is modern. But underneath the shiny working exterior, there is racism, there is a social hierarchy and there are the labourers and domestic helpers who are very much unseen . And surprise surprise, those helpers aren't always treated that well.

I've now read 3 of Jaswal's books and this is absolutely my favourite one. Through wit and humour, she writes the perspectives of 3 domestic workers; Cora, Angel and Donita. As we learn about their lives, a murder mystery begins to unfold and the disparities between their lives and those of their employers only seem to heighten. Interspersed between the chapters are Facebook posts written by employers of helpers. These posts, while they made me smirk, came through in a very realistic way. Believe the entitlement and audacity that they reek of. Wealth does weird things to people's brains.

I read a few reviews suggesting the book was unrelatable. Well. Unless you are a domestic helper, have had one or have lived somewhere where they are the norm then yeah. This book is going to be unrelatable. 🙃

Some of those same reviews suggested the author repeated her point over and over again. Honestly, it didn't feel repetitive to me at all. I think Jaswal did an excellent job in developing the storyline and lifting up an international workforce that not enough people know about. These women exist. They are as real as you and me.

Upstairs downstairs story set in the houses of rich Singaporeans and their immigrant workers, who are often taken for granted or abused, but also have dignity and know love. Very enlightening book.

Now You See Us is set in Singapore, following three maids who find themselves involved in a murder case when another maid is accused of murdering her employer.

This book is full of insight into the different parallels between rich and working class and how different people treat workers. Some employers are nice and some are horrible and this book shares snippets of these examples within the overall narrative.

I really liked this book more towards the end where I felt that the pace picked up a bit more. At the beginning we switched a lot between characters and didn't get to know them much and a lot of different things happened. I think that a lot was attempted in the book which was exciting but at times was a bit much. Some elements were difficult to follow because there was a lot going on in addition and I found myself forgetting why it was important. But overall I did enjoy the book and the dialogue was written really well.

Such an interesting and important story to be told; overseas women working as cleaners and family help for rich Singaporean families are meant to be unseen, working silently to keep their employers' lives running smoothly. But one of the workers is accused of a terrible crime, and now they must all speak out to try and save their friend.
A powerful story, well written, I had to keep reading to find out what would happen to the women. Definitely recommended

Cora, Angel, and Donita are Filipina domestic helpers working in Singapore, taking care of the wealthy households there. They toil away, putting forth a lot of effort for little money and hardly any rest or time off.

Cora just restarted working in Singapore after spending some time at home, where she had previously pretended to be retired. She keeps a low profile and refuses to discuss the reason for her return.

Due to her employer's stroke and potential need for a nurse rather than a maid, Angel is devastated following a breakup and afraid of her future.

Donita, who is working for the first time, has the misfortune of working for the detestable Mrs. Fann.

A coworker they know is charged with killing her boss. They start to piece together what actually happened and need to see that justice is served, but they are in danger of ruining their livelihoods in the process.

An eye-opening novel that provided a fascinating look into the life of migrant domestic workers. Sometimes I got confused who was working for who though.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

This novel shines a light on the lives of domestic workers in Singapore. Dependent on their employers for their home and residence status, the women featured feel they have little power in their lives. When a domestic worker is arrested for the murder of her employer, her friends set out to find the evidence that will release her. This novel highlights the plight of women who are forced to work away from their homes and families and the importance of the bonds they forge with one another.

This book was a change from my usual genre and I did find it quite hard going. That said the insight into other cultures and working conditions was very interesting

Thought the premise of this sounded really interesting, and had heard good things about Jaswal’s other works but I just couldn’t get into this sadly.

I have read a couple of the other books by the author, and I like the content that she focuses on. The topics that she writes about are ones that she has personal connections to and is not something that is common in many books.
This particular narrative is not very different. I have not lived in Singapore but have spent five years in HK, which also has a significant Filipina worker population. It is very organised, and since I did not befriend anyone with live-in domestic workers, the information I had about the system was more because of the notices I would see. The treatment they received in public transport and the stores varied based on the people, but for the most part, it was a little too dismissive.
If a reader has never encountered this organised scenario, the book will serve as an eye-opener. It talks of how it works, how women enter into the system and what their duties entail.
In this story, the focus is on three different women. Cora has returned to Singapore after a break, and she is lying low as compared to her earlier stance as a champion for other maids. Angel liked the family she was working for, and they liked her. But when the wife dies, and the husband needs a wheelchair, she has to deal with their children, and that brings with it its own host of troubles. Finally, we have Donita, who is with the worst possible employer and is taking out her own frustrations on a woman and being too irrational. In the beginning, Donita gives as good as she gets, not making her a very sympathetic character, but once she starts to understand the world around her, she mellows enough to make way for the woman who wants to find who framed her friend for murder.
I liked the book, but the ending did not suit the overall tone of the narrative. Everything seems to suddenly wrap up with almost happily-ever-afters. I am usually a person who likes such endings, but given the trauma and continuous imbalance in power that was depicted in the rest of the book, the ending seemed almost like a wish rather than the truth.
There are several other socio-political topics handled well in the book. It is a look at Asian life, which probably does not feature in several Western volumes. I would highly recommend this book just for the writing and for people who want to read something different.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Now You See Us, the latest novel by Balli Kaur Jaswal, is an entertaining, moving and thought-provoking story, following the lives of three Filipino maids living and working in the wealthy city state of Singapore. Cora has recently returned to Singapore after a family tragedy back home, but is constantly looking over her shoulder in fear of her past catching up with her. Angel is reeling from the break-down of her relationship with the love of her life, and fending off the unwanted attentions of her employer's son. Meanwhile, newly-arrived Donita is finding that life under the tyrannical yoke of her boss is very different from her expectations. When a fellow maid is accused of murder, the three women set out to prove her innocence, but first they will need to get the attention of a society which likes to pretend they don't exist.

The title 'Now You See Us' has a dual meaning which highlights the fact that this is really two stories in one. In Singapore, the ultimate domestic status symbol for wealthy women is a Filipino maid. Taking care of children and the elderly, cooking, cleaning, and completing the innumerable jobs which keep a household running, these women are expected to fade into the background - neither seen nor heard - and, in a country whose laws do little to protect them, they are incredibly vulnerable to being exploited by their employers, and by the recruitment agencies who bring them to Singapore. If Now You See Us is presented as a murder mystery, it is perhaps predominantly a searing commentary on the status and treatment of the 1.64 million migrant workers in Singapore.

Though the story is fictional, the world it takes place in is very much real, which is emphasised by the liberal use of news reports and posts from 'ma'am' Facebook groups that malign maids for crimes ranging from being sexually harassed by strange men to wanting time off to attend her husband's funeral. These excerpts provide more context about the position Filipino domestic workers occupy in Singaporean society, and help to build the world in which the main characters reside, one in which the migrant workers who do the dirty, demeaning work that the Singaporeans would rather not are belittled, shunned and discriminated against accordingly.

The author - who moved from Singapore to the Philippines as a teenager, not long after a Filipino domestic worker was executed for murder in Singapore - states in an author's note that she was 'inspired by formative experiences of traversing places and their truths.' One of the underlying themes of the novel is that the prevailing narrative is not necessarily the truth, and the author artfully weaves the threads of each maid's story around this idea; the story of Cora's nephew, told against the backdrop of Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's War on Drugs, is particularly moving. At one point, a character muses on how migrant workers tend to have 'Two lives. One here, and one back home,' and the author skilfully tells each character's backstory to highlight how they are all individuals with their own hopes, dreams and motivations. The juxtaposition with the dehumanising treatment they routinely recieve in Singapore is powerful.

The book is carefully researched (the author thanks the domestic workers whom she interviewed in preparation for writing), and the author does an excellent job of making both the Filipino maids and the Chinese employers feel like fully-realised, nuanced communities. Every small detail conveys the cultural specificity of both groups, with references such as the balikbayan boxes sent to family in the Philippines, traditional foods and cultural norms, and religious festivals such as the Ghost Festival used not only to create a rich, tangible setting, but also to advance the plot.

Though Cora, Angel and Donita are our main focus, the book draws on the experiences of other migrant workers too. In a poignant moment at a poetry reading, Donita is deeply moved by a poem written by a Bangladeshi builder, even as she struggles to understand her Punjabi date's culture. Donita's storyline emphasises the shared experience of migrant workers whilst simultaneously pointing out all the divisions between the disparate groups.
Donita's boyfriend's living conditions reflect those of migrant workers who found themselves isolated in crowded dormitories at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought the living and working conditions of migrant workers in Singapore to a global audience and prompted impassioned pleas for the government to do much more to protect their rights. Like in many other wealthy nations, the pandemic exposed the extent of inequality, and I applaud Balli Kaur Jaswal for using her novel to ensure that these conversations are not forgotten.

This is not a perfect book; the ending feels pat and unlikely, and reads more as wish fulfilment than a logical conclusion to the story. Overall however, Now You See Us is an entertaining and important book which holds a mirror to an exploitative, prejudiced society and won't let the reader look away.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

I am emotionally exhausted - what a wonderful book! It started as an everyday life experience for a Filipino domestic worker ‘slaving’ for rich Chinese families in Singapore - distressing enough- to a murder mystery and a fight for equal rights. This is a world we don’t know enough about, the racism and the bullying still going on today. A must read!

Cora, Angel and Donita are Filipina domestic workers employed in Singapore, looking after the countries well to do families.

Hard working, for little pay and virtually no time off, they go about their work, almost unnoticed.

Cora has recently returned to work in Singapore after time back home, where she claimed she had retired. She does not talk about why she returned and keeps a low profile.

Angel is heartbroken after a break up and unsure of her future as her employer has had a stroke and may need a nurse more than a housekeeper.

And Donita, young and in her first job, has the misfortune of being employed by the most awful Mrs Fann.

Sticking together and being old friends to each other, life is predictable.

Until another worker they know is accused of murdering her boss….

They begin to price together what really happened and need to make sure justice happens, but put themselves in danger by doing so.

A wonderful read, that kept me captivated until the end, a real insight into the lives of migrant domestic staff and a real ey opener.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

I’ve never read anything by this other but was intrigued by the cultural differences to my own and I’m so glad I read it! I loved it. I loves the detective story and the maid’s relationships. It was a cool read thank you for the e-arc

A joyous book because I learnt about different cultures and I loved reading about the relationships between the maids. I also enjoyed the mystery part and guessing.

I did not feel that the synopsis quite fitted with what I read in this title. The plight of Filipina maids was well portrayed. Employed in Singapore by the rich, and not so rich, the employers seem to distrust the maids, which makes one wonder why they employed them. Many of the maids are mistreated with few rights in their employment - a modern form of slavery in some ways. Their life and how they are treated is interesting and informative.
But then a mystery of a death is added, where one of the maids is arrested and held as the perpetrator. I did not feel this was followed through particularly well, her release almost being swept under the carpet.
That Donita became famous in the way she did was far-fetched.
The promised humour passed me by.
Too much packed into an important revelation of life for the 'unseen' for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Balli Kaur Jaswal/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

When a Filipina domestic worker, Flordeliza is arrested, accused of bludgeoning her employer to death, everyone thinks she is guilty, except for a trio of unlikely sleuths who are determined to find the real murderer and clear their counterparts name.
A beautifully well crafted and plotted novel, bringing the world of Singapore to the reader and highlighting the issues faced by immigrant workers - the first rule is to be invisible and showing how people can be divided by borders, losing respect for people and their cultures
Thank you @balli_jaswal, @harperfiction & @netgalley for the eARC

I first came across Balli Kaur Jaswal's work when I read Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and I enjoyed it so much that I jumped at the chance to read this one!

Three women from the Philippines are all working as maids in Singapore. Their main task is to be neither heard or seen. When a friend, also a maid, is accused of murdering her employer, they are all aware it could be any of them and they need to do whatever they can to help. They are all aware that if found guilty, a life sentence or even hanging will result. They all have their secrets, but in order to save their friend they are going to have to find bravery of the highest order.

Cora, Angel and Donita are all Filipina, working in Singapore. As maids, they work through an agency and the way they are treated by their employers can vary greatly. I can't say I was aware of any of this but it makes for fascinating reading. The behaviour of some of the rich women is quite shocking. Slowly, bit by bit, we learn such a lot about the characters in this book and it is a riveting read. This is a such a good, interesting story and one which I feel taught me such a lot - and I love to learn something new from my reading. Well-written, this is a novel which has put this author firmly on my 'must not miss' list. 4.5* and definitely recommended.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley'; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.