May 20, 2025
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian author Ivy Ngeow is no stranger to writing about the deepest fears that linger in the corners of your mind. In her 2023 novel, The American Boyfriend, she focused on long-distance relationships and whether you can ever really know someone, even when they profess to love you.
In her latest novel, In Safe Hands, which is scheduled for release in October, Ngeow delves into modern family dynamics, particularly immigrant families.
The story opens on Genevieve Ho (aka Gen), who returns to London with her six-year-old son Jasper in tow after her wine distribution business went belly up, as did her marriage.
Gen expects to be welcomed back home with open arms, but her wealthy elderly father Richie, a widower, has unexpected company in the form of his live-in caregiver, Stella, who is “perfect” in his eyes.
A tug-of-war unfolds between Gen and Stella over control of the household and winning Richie’s favour amidst his declining health, and we learn that there’s more to Stella behind her pearly smile and tidily-starched apron.
At its core, however, the story is about the father-daughter relationship between Richie and Gen, and how it shifts with age, flipping the roles of guardian and ward.
“This story was inspired by what I saw once in a hotel lobby bar, which made me weep,” says Ngeow, 54, in an email interview.
The Britain-based author describes a scene where an elderly man was phenomenally playing the grand piano, only to suddenly stop and get up. When his middle-aged daughter goes to assist him, he fails to recognise her and pulls away.
“It just shows how wonderful the brain is, and yet how awful. Like it or not, we are all aging and one day it might be us, no matter how fit, smart, fine-looking, successful, and talented we once were or still are. This moment fired up a spark in me, so I decided to write about the idiosyncrasies of old age,” she adds.
In the book, Richie also plays the piano to a professional standard, and there’s a scene in a hotel lobby that’s a nod to the real-life inspiration behind the story.
“Richie is proud and his character defines him, not his age. His mind might not be perfect, but he has a mind of his own. He was once a charming businessman who could play any song by ear. He is not going to want to let go easily. We tend to think we can take over and help the elderly because they are old. Maybe not. Maybe they don’t want to, or can’t, be helped. You can’t break their spirit,” adds Ngeow.
Writing modern Asians
Those who read Ngeow’s previous release, The American Boyfriend, can look forward to a little “Easter egg” in In Safe Hands, as the character Evie Wong, known to Gen as “Auntie Evie”, makes an appearance.
“I wanted to show how small the immigrant community is in London, especially of that generation when there was relatively very little immigration and only in the skilled areas such as healthcare. Hence, everyone knows everyone and looks out for one another,” explains Ngeow.
Currently based in London, Ngeow herself can relate to the immigrant experience. She was born and raised in Johor Baru, but moved to Sydney, Australia after finishing high school to pursue a degree in architecture at the University of New South Wales.
After graduating, she worked in Singapore for a couple of years before relocating to Britain to work for the National Health Service (NHS), where she has lived since.
In Safe Hands is Ngeow’s sixth novel, having released her debut novel Cry Of The Flying Rhino in 2017 after finishing an MA in Writing at Middlesex University in London. However, it may surprise readers to learn that Ngeow still works full-time as an architect.
“I need to have a day job so that writing and reading can remain a special thing, something completely opposed to ‘working’. I also love architecture and don’t want to stop practising – my work has taken me to interesting places. It is a tough discipline in a male-dominated industry with long hours and even longer training, but it has made me the writer and the woman that I am,” she shares.
Ngeow’s books always feature South-East Asian characters, particularly those who are culturally Chinese, which she says is the result of “a mix of instinct and intention”.
“I naturally write characters who are culturally familiar to me because that’s the world I come from. But it’s also a conscious decision. For a long time, Asian characters in English-language fiction were either invisible or reduced to tired stereotypes, with the women being the barefoot woman in a rice field, the submissive daughter, the prostitute, and the men being the exotic side character, the servant, the waiter, the martial arts gangster.
“I’m not interested in writing those characters. I write modern Asians – complicated, ambitious, flawed, and real – living in cities, facing messy relationships, moral dilemmas, and everything in between. I want to show that we don’t have to be boxed into one kind of story. We can be the lead in a psychological thriller. We can be unreliable narrators, heroes, or villains. And the more we see that, the more it chips away at the narrow lens through which Asian characters have often been viewed,” says Ngeow.
Mirroring real life
Ngeow not only writes thrillers, but she’s an avid reader of the genre, too.
“I’m fascinated with plots that have elements of suspense and mystery, because they mirror real life in a cinematic way. I like writing about ordinary, regular people like you and me. Doubts, anxiety and secrets are what we wrestle with every day.
“The tension between what people show and what they hide, and the psychology of all that interests me. These genres allow me to explore rich emotional and moral territories,” she reveals.
If you’re looking for some book recommendations, Ngeow’s got a few: she tells us she’s enjoyed reading Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Other People’s Houses by Clare Mackintosh, and The Other Girl by Emily Barr.
“I would recommend them to those who love good tight plotting and gripping storytelling. For those who enjoy psychological thrillers by Asian authors, I recommend Someone Else’s Life by Lyn Liao Butler and Cuckoo by Callie Kazumi,” she adds.
Touching on her writing process, Ngeow says that while it seems structured in theory, it’s “chaotic in practice”.
It took her about 18 months to write In Safe Hands, including six months of “seriously brutal self-editing”.
“I usually start with a strong visual or emotional image – sometimes it’s a character, sometimes it’s a scene that won’t leave me alone. Then I build the story around that. I outline loosely, but I allow for surprises along the way. I write a zero draft where I sketch the outline scene by scene. I love that moment when a character does something I didn’t plan for – it means they’ve come alive,” she says.
As for writer’s block, Ngeow asserts that there is “no such thing”.
“If I stop writing, it means there is a plot problem. It’s like a tap. If it stops working, it means that something is mechanically wrong inside. It needs fixing first. You can’t just force the tap to work. I usually get around the problem by taking the dog for a walk, watching a TV series that I like, reading a book in the same genre – anything to get out of my head.
“Then I return to the work with fresh eyes. Sometimes writing just means sitting down and writing badly for a while until something clicks. It’s part of the process, not the enemy of it,” she concludes.
In Safe Hands by Ivy Ngeow, published by Penguin Random House, will be released on Oct 21. More info: writengeow.com; penguin.sg