AustLit

'Pung’s new book One Hundred Days is set in the mind of a 16-year-old whose mother traps her in their commission flat after she falls pregnant.' 

'Having published memoir, essays and fiction, Alice Pung has demonstrated an ability to write with flair and flexibility across genres. While each story is unique, there’s a comfort in reading a book by Pung, as you know the characters and narrative will immediately absorb you. One Hundred Days does just that – it’s a glorious song of a novel and, like Pung’s Ethel Turner Prize-winning Laurinda, can be savoured by young and old.' (Introduction)

'It’s difficult to describe what it’s like to be raised in a Chinese family, especially when you are surrounded by markers of Western society. There is no such thing as talking back to your parents or refusing to do what they say. As a child, I never went to sleepovers. During my teenage and young adult years, I felt increasingly trapped in my own home. Everything I did was scrutinised; my parents never seemed to take into account my wants or needs. I found myself grasping for any scrap of independence, usually through lying or stealing or a combination of the two. As children, we are continually told that adults do things to protect us, especially when they are things we don’t particularly like. But when does protection morph into something uglier? When does it smother us, as if our agency has been stripped from us?' (Introduction)

'Fairy tales are a running motif in Alice Pung’s new novel, One Hundred Days. Fairy tales can operate on many levels — they can entertain children, warn of dangers, provide heroes or heroines who are able to overcome obstacles; for Jungian analysts, they can be an expression of the collective unconscious. Just as fairy tales can work on many levels, the references to them in One Hundred Days are also multi-layered, from the numerous invocations of the classic 80s modern fairy tale movie Labyrinth, to the plot itself, that draws on the story of Rapunzel, locked up in her tower.' (Introduction)