Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal is as the cover suggests, bright, colourful and full of riveting moments.

The story is about foreign house helps working in Singapore where they must toil hard but remain unseen and unheard. Cora, Angel and Donita are three such maids who meet each other on their days off and have forged a friendship.

Cora has a past that she is hiding from her present employer; Angel is going through a heart break and her place in the house she works in is also in danger; Donita has just started working and her employer is always criticizing her.

They become more united when a Filipina maid, Flor is arrested for murdering her employer but Donita is convinced that Flor is innocent.

The writing is engaging and fresh. The helpers, their struggles, their separation from their families are depicted in a poignant manner. How the past and present shape these domestic workers and how their previous employers and the treatment meted out to these women has shaped them makes for an interesting read.

A major part of the book revolves around how these rich Singaporeans treat their domestic helpers. As immigrant workers who are under the debt of the agents who get them to Singapore , these women are already at a disadvantage and the mean and rude bosses don’t help matters.

Kudos to Balli Kaur Jaswal for depicting the toils and hardships so vividly. It never gets boring or preachy at any point and I loved this book.

My rating: 4.8/5

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