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Horatio Archibald Marmaduke
A graphic memoir depicting one Peranakan's humorous and poignant stories about her multigenerational family in Singapore.
Horatio Archibald Marmaduke: What My Father Wanted to Name Me is Pauline Gan's tribute to her parents who grew up in pre-independence Singapore. Told in vignettes, this personal journey (illustrated by award-winning artist Anngee Neo) takes us back to a time when boys were favoured for higher education, and families huddled in their homes during the Japanese Occupation.
Horatio Archibald Marmaduke: What My Father Wanted to Name Me is Pauline Gan's tribute to her parents who grew up in pre-independence Singapore. Told in vignettes, this personal journey (illustrated by award-winning artist Anngee Neo) takes us back to a time when boys were favoured for higher education, and families huddled in their homes during the Japanese Occupation.
176 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2025
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About the author
Pauline Gan Boey Keow
1 book1 followerPauline Gan Boey Keow is a Peranakan who has called Singapore home nearly her entire life, and was educated in Singapore, Australia and the UK. She has worked as a systems analyst/programmer in a statuatory board, a research officer in Singapore’s Ministry of Defence, and an HR executive in a major multinational company. She is now retired, and looks after her grandchildren long distance, cultivates vegetables in her garden, bakes and plans fun trips to unusual places in keeping with the spirit of adventure passed down from her father. She is at work on a story about the grit and determination of women fifty to sixty years ago. Horatio Archibald Marmaduke: What My Father Wanted to Name Me is her first book.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 3, 2025
Memoirs rarely hold my interest because:
1. I don’t have any urge to pry into someone else’s life.
2. Boring, boring, BORING — I’m interested in the exciting and scandalous parts, but they usually make up less than 25% of the content, which brings me back to point 1 ☝🏻.
Somehow, some way, Gan managed to captivate me with her life stories, simplified into vignettes and accompanied by cute illustrations. Speaking of which, they reminded me of Nick Sharratt’s work, which fans of English novelist Jacqueline Wilson would recognize.
I was thoroughly entertained and amused by Gan’s humor from front to back. It was eye-opening to learn about some Peranakan traditions from her family, and I didn’t find a single anecdote boring for a moment. I highly recommend this graphic memoir!
1. I don’t have any urge to pry into someone else’s life.
2. Boring, boring, BORING — I’m interested in the exciting and scandalous parts, but they usually make up less than 25% of the content, which brings me back to point 1 ☝🏻.
Somehow, some way, Gan managed to captivate me with her life stories, simplified into vignettes and accompanied by cute illustrations. Speaking of which, they reminded me of Nick Sharratt’s work, which fans of English novelist Jacqueline Wilson would recognize.
I was thoroughly entertained and amused by Gan’s humor from front to back. It was eye-opening to learn about some Peranakan traditions from her family, and I didn’t find a single anecdote boring for a moment. I highly recommend this graphic memoir!
Displaying 1 of 1 review