Melody's Reading Corner: Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Melody

HarperCollins | 25 May 2023 | 336 pgs

Source: Library

Corazon, Angel and Donita are Filipino domestic workers who work in Singapore. Generally, domestic workers have a wide range of job responsibilities and they could range from cleaners, maids or even caregivers. Corazon and Donita work as maids to wealthy families, while Angel is a caregiver to a family member who's a wheelchair user.

Each of them has their own backstory - Corazon is an experienced worker who's returning to Singapore under mysterious circumstances and her purpose will soon shed to light as the story unravels. Donita, on the other hand, is her first time being in Singapore and as fate would have it, she's hired by a fussy Mrs Fann who has nothing but complaints about her. Donita longed for a relationship but it seems that her Indian construction worker boyfriend thinks otherwise, especially his family wants a daughter-in-law who comes from their own countryside. Angel is satisfied with her job as a caregiver, until her employer's son starts eyeing her and hire a new Filipino nurse, leading her to wonder if she'd be her friend or a threat to replace her.

As these three women carry on their life with their own worries, one of their acquaintances is accused of murder of her employer. While they may not know Flordeliza Martinez well, they do know about their status and how they're often deemed as liars or even thieves in others' eyes, but to be accused as a murderer is another matter. Either out of loyalty or a sense of justice to clear their friend's name, they decided to do a bit of their own investigation to find out what went wrong within Flordeliza's employer's family and if Flordeliza is indeed the murderer.

This was a slow-burn read which in my opinion leaning more towards a cozy mystery and focus a lot more on the general aspect of Filipino domestic workers' working and navigating life in Singapore. While we may have read many stories about the domestic workers from the employers' perspective, rarely do we hear about the former's stories and their voices so this offers an interesting insight with a mystery to boot.

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