Amanda Lee Koe lounges gracefully on a rock in a green gown, a diamond‑and‑emerald necklace crowning her décolletage.
Her hair, freshly tinted in blonde and black (a nod to her beloved villain Cruella de Vil, perhaps), is styled into a sleek chignon with faux bangs. Juxtaposing this is her in a white dress with a more elegant, slicked‑back do, exuding a decidedly more benevolent vibe. These contrasting personas depicted in the previous spread—and indeed, throughout this shoot, where she is styled only in green and white ensembles—are a deliberate embodiment of the duality in her new novel, Sister Snake, which is set to launch later this year.
Lee Koe herself, might we mention, has many facets and defies easy classification. The 36‑year‑old, who is in Singapore for two months with a schedule that includes this cover shoot and a trek into Ulu Pandan’s wilderness to verify a jungle scene in her book, is a former riot grrrl (a feminist punk subculture). An award‑winning novelist and short story writer. A kink‑club‑visiting, thrift‑store‑shopping self‑appointed “city rat” who lives in New York and Singapore, who loves her Brooklyn neighbourhood butchery as much as she loves her dim sum from
