"...so many aunties we could have an auntie team" - Kanye West (old Ye, never current day Ye)
I have a lot of aunts and like the book's protagonist, Meddelin, they try to stay in my business. Unfortunately - but often fortunately for Meddy - they succeed in doing just that. When she accidentally kills her date, her aunts and her mother don't even blink an eye when she asks for help. Low key it made me wonder if they'd disposed of a few bodies before. Hijinks ensue as Meddy and her aunts try to balance running their various wedding-related businesses and keep the deceased hidden long enough to get rid of him.
Sutanto gives readers a perfect blend of family relationships, fated romances, cultural identity and quirkiness. I can't recommend Dial A for Aunties enough and I can't wait to see what comes next for Meddy and her aunts because I'm already desperately hoping for a series featuring these ladies.
Synopsis: At the news of her mother's death, Natalie Tan returns home. The two women hadn't spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco's Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moving out. She's even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother's restaurant.
The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant's fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother's cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around--she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.
Review: There's a lot going on in Natalie Tan's life: resentment for her mother and a bit of shame about their fractured relationship; proposed gentrification of the neighborhood she couldn't wait to escape but has come to love; and a bit of romance. Initially Natalie wants to sell the building so she can hit the road and continue to drift from place to place as she has since she first left home, but soon comes to realize Chinatown is exactly where she's meant to be.
Roselle Lim deftly weaves all of these elements into one of the most magical reads I've come across this year. I can't wait to see what she does next.
At first, The Americans seems very disjointed. There are a lot of characters to keep up with and each has their own intricate story line. It’s almost enough to make you quit if you have a short attention span, but stay with it. I promise you, it’ll be worth it.
The connector of everyone is Tara, so it makes sense that she’s the biggest focus of the book. In her mid-30s, she’s come from India to the U.S. to help her sister Kamala out. On her flight, she meets CLN, a fellow Indian, traveling to the U.S. for the first time to see his daughter, Kavita, and meet his grandson in person. While Kamala takes her autistic son, Rahul, to see a specialist, Tara is to stay with her temperamental niece, Lavi. Ariel, Kamala’s Israeli housekeeper, has a better grasp on what’s going on in Kamala’s house than anyone else, but doesn’t interfere, only observes. This makes up the core group of characters, but there’s a sub-group that’s just as interesting.
Shantanu, a friend of Tara’s from back home, works at the Royal Bengal Tiger restaurant in the Little India area of Los Angeles. He’s always suspected that his boss, Nagi Babu, is trafficking immigrants, but takes action when he realizes that Babu has moved into sex trafficking young girls.
Akhil, another friend of Tara’s from India, works at a university, but runs a conspiracy theory website on the side. At first Akhil seems level headed, but watching his descent into madness is painful. I can’t quite decide if he was just overly paranoid or was dealing with deeper mental issues like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Madulika is Tara’s best friend. She’s married to Vinod, who is cheating on her with a white American who is pregnant by him. Madulika is obsessed with having a baby, so much so that she begins taking illegal measures to get one of her own. I found her attitude toward “Mexicans” interesting. She lumped a whole population of people into that group because she couldn’t be bothered to learn the differences between ethnicities. At first I thought this was a very Western attitude, but given that India has operated on a caste system for so long, it makes sense. In her mind, she didn’t see them as being on the same level as she was, likely because their skin was darker than hers. So she doesn't feel the need to learn who her "Mexican" housekeepers really are, they don't matter to her.
What stood out to me most about The Americans is no one seemed really happy. Kavita has a very short temper and always seems irritated by everything CLN does, almost like she doesn’t want him there. But CLN comments that Tara reminds him of a younger Kavita. And Tara is a kind person, so does this mean that America has turned Kavita into the person she’s become?
Kamala is obsessed with being perfect and, since Rahul’s autism doesn’t fit into her plan, she ignores Lavi while trying to “fix” him. She’s selfish and self-centered, yet doesn’t realize it until Lavi points out to her that she asked Tara to come all the way from India to stay with her, but she would never do the same for Tara.
Ariel is happy in her job at Kamala’s until she’s accused of stealing. Then her world seems to crumble and she realizes that her white American husband is lazy and she can’t stand her mother-in-law. When we find her contemplating whether or not to stay in Tel Aviv when she visits her daughter, it’s easy to believe that she might leave America and never come back, because what is she really coming back to?
I can’t say that America transformed these people, but you have to wonder if they would have been this way in India or Israel. Kamala and CLN both make comments that lead me to think it has. At one point Kamala comments that wished she could go home to India where people were treated as humans and stood by each other. CLN says that in India people are happy being independent, but know that they are connected to a larger community; in the U.S., there’s a sense of isolation. So maybe it’s the lack of a support system and a lack of humanity that has so many of the characters on edge. And maybe Tara has kept her softness, her humanity, because even though she’s lived in the U.S. in the past, she’s been living in India and has had time to recharge her batteries, to regain her humanity.
296 p. Disclaimer: Copy of book provided by publisher, opinions are my own.
Those Crazy Rich AsiansKevin Kwan introduced us to in 2013 are back! When last we saw the Youngs, Nick and Rachel had just gotten engaged (much to his mother & grandmother's chagrin); Michael and Astrid were celebrating his company buyout; and Eddie and family continued to grace society pages with their impeccable dressing from head to toe.
Nick & Rachel and Astrid & Michael are back, but Eddie is solidly a third string character. There's little to no mention of his family and his appearance merely serves to remind us of just how ridiculous and pompous someone of his status in life can be. And though Nick and Rachel are a focal point of the book, they take a backseat to a new character, Colette.
Thanks to social media "stars" like the Kardashians, we're all familiar with how a talentless hack can rise to the top of society with the help of Twitter, Instagram and a few well placed pictures (or videos). To say Colette Bing is China's answer to Kim K. would be an insult to Colette. Her father is the third richest man in China and the world is Colette's playground. She is, indeed, the China rich girlfriend who is at the center of the world wind that is this book.
Rachel's search for her birth father leads her to China (thanks to Nick's overbearing & meddling mother) where she becomes acquainted with her nearly identical brother, Carlton, just one of Colette's many suitors. When Rachel and Nick get caught up in the chaos of Colette's life, they (and readers) are exposed to an even more extravagant lifestyle than witnessed in Crazy Rich Asians. Where Nick's family members tended to hide their wealth, Colette has no problem flaunting it. I couldn't even begin to keep up with the brands, places and names that Kwan dropped throughout the book as he detailed how and where these people spend their money.
I like that Kwan takes the time to give us footnotes about the phrases the characters use. While that probably plays well in print versions of the book, footnotes in ebooks are compiled and shown at the end of each chapter, making it difficult and time consuming to figure them out while reading. It disrupts the reading flow, but not enough to stop reading.
Like he did with Crazy Rich Asians, Kwan doesn't tie up everyone's story line with a nice neat bow, leaving room for another sequel. I, for one, would love a follow up to find out how Rachel's relationship with her new family plays out and how the story line for Kitty Pong, a minor character that becomes a major character, plays out. Her transformation by Corinna Ko-Tung was almost Pygmalion comes to China and I'd really be interested in a book about Corinna getting her Henry Higgins on.
Two years ago we were told screen rights had been optioned for Crazy Rich Asians, but nothing else has been said about a movie. Rather than that, I would prefer a network TV summer series that combines both books. It would definitely hold my interest much more than some of the other summer series networks throw our way. Trust me, if you were a fan of Dynasty or Dallas back in the day, you'll love China Rich Girlfriend.
I love a good generational story and Diamond Head does not disappoint. The “present day” setting is 1964 Hawaii, but the narrator takes us on a journey to 1909 China, the Boxer Rebellion and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It’s interesting that of the stories Theresa, the narrator, tells, hers is the one we know least. Her focus is on her parents, Amy and Bohai, and grandparents, Frank and Lin.
A wealthy shipping magnate in China, Frank Leong partners with Germans, Americans and any partnership that is financially beneficial to him. When his brother, Shen, loses his life in the Boxer Rebellion, Frank and Lin take in Hong, Shen’s wife, who becomes the keeper of all family secrets. When it becomes too dangerous for the Leongs to stay in China, Frank relocates them to Oahu. It is there that the stories of Bohai, his eldest son, and Kaipo, the youngest son, unfold.
Extremely shy and not at all the outgoing, boisterous eldest son that Frank hoped for, Bohai prefers to stick to his books. What he lacks in personality, Kaipo more than makes up for it. There isn’t a person that meets Kaipo that doesn’t fall under his spell, including Frank, leaving little room for Bohai.
Amy lives in near squalor on the island with her parents and a number of siblings. A photography assignment takes her to the home of the wealthy Leongs and she soon finds herself swept up in the possibility of what a life with Leong money and philanthropic fame could look like for herself and her family. “The parable of the red string of fate, the cord which binds one intended beloved to her perfect match, also punishes for mistakes in love, passing a destructive knot down the family line.” By no means is Amy the first in her family or the Leong family to disregard fate and, like others, she suffers for it.
Hong, the modest and reserved observer, watches all. She’s companion, caregiver and comforter to each member of the family at some point. It’s Hong who has known Lin the longest and Hong who takes care of her when she begins to unravel.
As Theresa tells her family’s story, we learn that she is pregnant and unwed and has little to no contact with her unborn child’s father. While Amy is angry at her for getting pregnant, I had to wonder if her anger is because she thought Theresa would get to have the loving marriage that she didn’t. Theresa, on the other hand, resents her mother for how distant she was from her father, Bohai. How could Amy set an example of what marriage should look like when Theresa witnessed her trying to escape hers daily?
Diamond Head is so good, so so good. Cecily Wong has created some unforgettable characters. I’d hesitate to call this historical fiction, though the characters do dip their toes into quite a bit of history. Overall, it’s just a good book. I’d recommend it for people that love generational sagas.
In reading more lit from Asian authors, I'm finding that like Russian literature, there's almost always a moral to the story. I Did Not Kill My Husband from Liu Zhenyun is certainly no exception to this rule. Li Xuelian is a foolish woman when we meet her and when we leave her.
Li and her husband, Qin Yuhe, already have a son. With China's one child policy in effect, Li's existing pregnancy is breaking the law. In an attempt to skirt the law, Li proposes divorcing her husband. He'll take their son and she'll take their newborn daughter and, in a few months, they'll reunite in marriage, except her plan backfires. Qin has his own ideas and takes advantage of their "fake" divorce to marry another woman.
Li wages war against her ex-husband, the state, regional and national officials that refuse to take her claim of a fake divorce seriously. Reading about the different bureaucrats that she approaches for help and their reactions to her, I'm reminded of Kafka's The Trial, in which the main character is sent from place to place and person to person, seeking help, with no rhyme or reason. Everyone else seems to know what's going on except the person who is actually requesting assistance. Both are shuffled through the system and passed on to someone else without having their problem resolved.
While Li continues to fight the good fight, others question her motivation. After all, her husband has been happily remarried for 20 years while she's fought to have their divorce recognized, and for what? By denying herself the opportunity to marry her longtime friend and proposed suitor, she keeps herself bound to anger and to a man that thinks no more of her than a fly he would shoo away.
This was an interesting read, very satirical and makes a lot of good points. The whole premise of the story is a reminder of the effects that China's one child policy can have on families, though it has been eased in some provinces. Fans of satire or Kafka-like lit should definitely give it a read.
224pp
Published: September 2014 Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.
Charlie Wong has led a sheltered life in New York's Chinatown. At 22, she still lives at home with her father and her younger sister, Lisa. Thanks to her father, the best noodle maker in Chinatown, she has a job washing dishes at the restaurant where he works. But Charlie is clumsy and washing dishes for a living certainly isn't her passion. Her late mother was once a star ballerina in Beijing, but Charlie must have taken after her father because she has not an ounce of her mother's grace, or does she?
Thanks to an ad Lisa sees in the paper, Charlie lands a new gig as a receptionist at a dance studio. Wearing her aunt's hand-me-down bras and baggy clothes, she's nowhere near as glamorous as the dancers at the studio, but she loves being around them. Unfortunately, Charlie is no better as a receptionist than she was a dishwasher. Luckily, someone at the studio sees her potential as a dancer.
I loved Charlie's time at the studio. It was light and carefree in comparison to the issues she dealt with at home. As the eldest daughter of a man that spends most of his time in Chinatown, it's Charlie's responsibility to deal with the world outside of Chinatown. She's the person that oversees Lisa's homework, deals with her teachers and fights for Lisa's chance to attend a prestigious school. She's also the one person that questions her father's undying loyalty to her Uncle Henry, a doctor specializing in Chinese medicine. It's true that Uncle Henry and Aunt Monica have helped her family out, but the way her father accepts his advice without any question puts Lisa in danger and Charlie is the only one that realizes just how much danger.
Jean Kwok is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I appreciate that Mambo in Chinatown keeps one foot in the dreamy world of "will the girl get the guy and win while doing so" and the other foot in the realistic world of what life is like for the children of immigrants. Charlie's world is a little off-balanced overall, but thanks to Kwok's writing, she manages to find the balance in both and her happy ending.
384pp
Published: June 2014 Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.
Normally I would review books in a series separately, but as they were all pretty quick reads and I read them back to back, it seems easier to review the series as a whole. Year of the Chick (Book 1), Last Minute Love (Book 2) and Never or Forever (Book 3) are loosely based on the life of the Canadian-Indian author, Romi Moondi. If you love diverse chick lit, you’ll enjoy her writing.
When we first meet Romi in Year of the Chick, she’s living in Toronto with a sister she can’t stand. On weekends, the two are forced to pack it up and return to their parents who live a bit of a distance from the big city. It’s only their jobs that allow them the freedom to live away from home, as Indian women are expected to stay with their families until they’re married.
At work, at home, no matter where she is, Romi spends much of her time thinking about her lack of a love life. Her friends have no problems attracting men, some would rather not even be bothered, but Romi feels like the invisible woman in the room far too often. When clubbing, matchmaking and online dating fail to yield any results, Romi takes to blogging. If she’s not going to be a successful dater, the least she can do is write about her experiences so others can learn from her mistakes.
Each book highlights Romi’s experiences with a different leading man. Overall, they’re enjoyable, but if I had to pick a least favorite, I’d go with book 3, Never or Forever. Book 1 really drew me in and book 2 held my attention well enough, but book 3 just seemed to meander along a long and twisty road leading nowhere that abruptly ended. The Romi we meet in book 3 is certainly not the one we originally met. I wouldn’t necessarily attribute that to growth though; it seemed that she lost a bit of her spark. As much as I anticipated what was coming after Year of the Chick and Last Minute Love, I can’t say that I’m all that interested in following up to see what happens after Never or Forever.
Year of the Chick
294pp
Published: October 2011
Last Minute Love
292pp
Published: June 2012
Never or Forever
241pp
Published: September 2013 Purchase:Amazon
Two years ago, Amy Tan put out an ebook called Rules for Virgins. It was only available as an ebook, but at just 43 pages, it was intriguing. It served as a guide for courtesans, one in particular, on becoming successful and being named one of Shanghai's Top Ten Beauties. At the time, I commented that I would love to see a novel based on the short. I didn't realize she was setting the ground work for The Valley of Amazement.
The book opens in 1905 Shanghai with seven year old Violet living at Hidden Jade Path, a first-class courtesan house owned by her mother, Lulu Mintern, the only white woman to own such a house in Shanghai. Courtesans differ from prostitutes in that they don't work the streets and they don't offer their services cheaply. They're more like mistresses for wealthy men, most of whom are in business-like or arranged marriages. These women are courted and wooed by wealthy men and enter into contractual relationships with them for periods of time. Up until the age of 14, Violet is a witness to the goings on of Hidden Jade Path.
Lulu, or Lucia, Mintern is a difficult woman to understand when we initially meet her. She dazzles the men that visit her establishment, never forgetting a name, making connections between her guests as she sees fit. However, she's reserved and distant when it comes to Violet. Her daughter seeks her attention and, much like Lulu's parents did her, she continues to brush off her child, a decision she will come to regret.
Tan's story is cyclical in nature. We see Lulu's strained relationship with her parents in which she feels ignored and acts out as a result. In turn, she becomes a parent much like her parents and ignores her child. We also see Lulu use her haughtiness and sense of entitlement to force her way into a forbidden relationship. This is repeated later by Violet and neither woman ends up with the outcome that she'd predicted.
It's interesting to see how Violet goes from a daughter of privilege to a courtesan. In the same way that her mother has Golden Dove to act as her mentor and partner, Violet forms a partnership with Magic Gourd, history repeating itself once again. I have to wonder if Violet's daughter, Flora, would have found herself in the same cycles.
I'm used to stories going back and forth between characters and locations, but it was strange that Tan waited until she was 400+ pages before she introduced Lulu's history. When we meet her, she's an adult with a child, but we don't know how this white woman came to be living in Shanghai. By the time she tells us, we're so invested in Violet's story that it's almost irrelevant. It's just my opinion, but I would have preferred to know Lulu's background much earlier than it was introduced.
This book started off slow for me. At 60 pages in, I began to wonder if I should finish it. But this is Amy Tan. I knew if I stuck with it, it would pay off in the end. Indeed it did.
To say I'm disappointed in this latest novel from Thrity Umrigar would be an exaggeration, but in no way was I as engrossed in this story as I have been with her previous work. The World We Found centers around four women who were friends in university. Years later, only two of them are still close. Yet, when called on by one, all respond.
Of the four women, Armaiti, Nishta, Laleh and Kavita, I found Kavita the most interesting and Armaiti the least. In college, the women were revolutionaries, but as adults, they're far removed from those optimistic, carefree, world-changing days. As each woman prepares to be reunited with her friends, the reader is given a glimpse into their present-day lives.
Nishta's circumstances changed the most, from an outgoing and outspoken college student to a quiet and obedient wife to a husband who had also changed drastically from his college days. Laleh used her family's money as a college student to address any and all problems and that didn't change as an adult. Armaiti, though the focal point of the story and the reason why the women were reuniting, was an extremely uninteresting character. Kavita was most interesting to me because, in her, Umrigar presents a character unlike others I've read about from this area. Her lifestyle is not one that's readily talked about in that region, so it was nice to see that subject tackled.
Overall, I didn't feel a connection with any of the women, so it made listening to the book a task, rather than something I enjoyed doing.
305pp
Listening time: 10 hours, 41 minutes
Published: January 2012
I really enjoyed this book once I got into it, but I feel like I should warn anyone that plans to listen to the audio version that it can be very confusing. There are a lot of characters to keep up with and I've found that when that's the case, it's easier to actually read the book so you can refer back to previously read passages to figure out which character is which. Since I listened to the audio version, I was confused for at least the first hour or so. After that, it was smooth sailing. Crazy Rich Asians revolves around three cousins, Nick, Astrid and Eddie. Members of a family so wealthy that they own homes in places the average person doesn't even know exist, the Youngs are a force to be reckoned with, as Rachel Chu soon finds out. The ABC (American Born Chinese) girlfriend of Nick, Rachel is a New York professor who thinks she's going home with her fellow professor boyfriend to visit his family for the summer. Nick fails to tell her that she's about to walk into a lifestyle that looks like something straight out of Dynasty meets Dallas multiplied by 100, and will have to navigate an obstacle course only made more challenging by the fact that she's an American.
The beautiful Astrid seems to have it all, a new baby, a loving husband, and she reigns over Singapore society. She's blissfully unaware of any problems in her world. Though money has always bought her happiness in the past, this time it may prove to be a hindrance instead of a help.
Even as a child, Eddie was a bit of an ass. Nothing has changed as he's gotten older. Always concerned about having the best of everything and more money than anyone else, he's also obsessed with making sure his family is always photographed looking their best in the Hong Kong society pages. Others live and learn from their mistakes, but Eddie has been making the same ones his whole life.
Though Astrid and Eddie's stories are touched on, Eddie's less than Astrid's, it's really Rachel and Nick that are the focus of Crazy Rich Asians. The characters that Kevin Kwan has created are so over the top that one thinks he made them up, while secretly wishing people like this really exist. Big screen rights have already been sold and I'm dying to see what becomes of this entertaining story in the hands of Hollywood.
416 pp
Listening time: 13 hours and 53 minutes
Published: June 2013
When you've read a really good book by an author, you have high expectations for anything they write after that. I loved Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Sister of My Heart and Mistress of the Spices and I was sure I'd be just as entertained by her new book. I wanted to love Oleander Girl so desperately, but (there's always a but, isn't there) the story line was too unbelievable in my opinion.
Seventeen year old Korobi Roy comes from a prominent Hindu family. After her mother's death, Korobi is raised by her strong-willed grandfather and humble grandmother and educated at prestigious boarding schools. Betrothed to Rajat, the son of wealthy art dealers, Korobi refuses to get married without first researching a family secret that has been withheld from her since birth. Various events and people threaten to keep Korobi and Rajat from actually making it to the altar.
The problem I had with the story was that Korobi was supposed to be a sheltered 17 year old who only knew life in Kolkata and at boarding school. So it takes a great suspension of belief to go along with the story of her hopping on a plane to America alone, navigating the streets of New York first, and traveling to California. It just seemed implausible. Based on that, it was difficult for me to really enjoy the book.
304pp
Published: March 2013 Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.
Theme: Impossible/It's Possible from Cinderella - Brandy & Whitney Houston
I knew when I started this challenge that there might be some books I wouldn't get because of cultural differences. Two weeks in and I've come across that first book. I really wanted to like Kitchen, but it was strange and otherworldly. It was a huge hit in Japan though, so perhaps it's just me.
Though the book has one name, it's actually two short stories. The first, Kitchen, tells the story of Mikage. Most people have a favorite room in their house and for Mikage, it's the kitchen. However, it's more than just her favorite room, it's where she feels most comfortable. So when her last living relative dies and she's offered a chance to move in with a classmate and his crossdressing father, she gladly accepts, based on the level of comfort she feels in their kitchen.
In the second short, Moonlight Shadow, young Satsuki mourns the loss of her boyfriend. Though she's comforted by the presence of her deceased boyfriend's brother, who dresses in the school uniform of his deceased girlfriend, she longs to see Hitoshi again. An encounter with a stranger on her morning run offers her that opportunity, but only if everything goes according to plan.
Both stories dealt with death and crossdressing men. I don't even know what to do with that honestly. I've not read anything else from the author, so I don't know if these are focused on in her other works. It just seems strange that both topics would play such prominent roles within the same book.
152pp
Published: 1988
In 1603, after decades of civil warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate (a military-led, dynastic government) ushered in a long period of relative political stability and isolation from foreign influence. For more than two centuries this policy enabled Japan to enjoy a flowering of its indigenous culture. Japan opened its ports after signing the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854 and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. Following three decades of unprecedented growth, Japan's economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s, but the country remains a major economic power. In March 2011, Japan's strongest-ever earthquake, and an accompanying tsunami, devastated the northeast part of Honshu island, killing thousands and damaging several nuclear power plants. The catastrophe hobbled the country's economy and its energy infrastructure, and tested its ability to deal with humanitarian disasters. - CIA World Factboo
Location: Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Size: 377,915 sq km, slightly smaller than California
Population: 127,368,088
Ethnic groups: Japanese 98.5%, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%. Up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004)
Would it take your mother's disappearance for you to realize how little you knew of her?
"Do you remember asking me a while ago to tell you something that only I knew about Mom? I told you I didn't know Mom. All I knew was that Mom was missing. It's the same now. I especially don't know where her strength came from." It's not until your wife goes missing that you even see her as your counterpart.
"Before you lost sight of your wife on the Seoul Station subway platform, she was merely your children's mother to you."
"Before she went missing, you spent your days without thinking about her. When you did think about her, it was to ask her to do something, or to blame her or ignore her. Habit can be a frightening thing. You spoke politely with others, but your words turned sullen toward your wife. Sometimes you even cursed at her. You acted as if it had been decreed that you couldn't speak politely to your wife. That's what you did." When 69 year old Park So-nyo goes missing, her husband and her children come to understand how little they knew of her and how much they took her for granted for so long. Born into poverty, she married a man that she didn't know, or initially love, yet raised five children to become productive members of society. Yet, like many adult children, she became an afterthought as they became successful, seen as an annoyance by some.
Still, their successes were all built firmly on the foundation that she set for them. The eldest son for whom she saved and sacrificed to send to school; a younger daughter that was sent off to live with that same son to receive an even better education; the daughter who tries to manage being both a pharmacist and a mother to three, while wondering how Mom managed to raise five children and make it seem so easy and natural.
"Since she went missing, I often think: Was I a good daughter? Could I do the kind of things for my kids she did for me? I know one thing. I can't do it like she did. Even if I wanted to. When I'm feeding my kids, I often feel annoyed, burdened, as if they're holding on to my ankles. I love my kids, and I am moved - wondering, did I really give birth to them? But I can't give them my entire life like Mom did. Depending on the situation, I act as if I would give them my eyes if they need them, but I'm not Mom." Over the course of this short read, each member of the family reflects on the role Mom played in his/her life, realizing that not once did they see as anything other than their mother. And as mothers sometimes do, she downplayed any problems she had the few times that anyone asked. Ultimately, it's the inability to express her pain (and her family's willingness to overlook it) that leads to the disappearance of Park.
"So why did we think of Mom as a mom from the very beginning? She didn't have the opportunity to pursue her dreams and, all by herself, faced everything the era dealt her, poverty and sadness, and she couldn't do anything about her very bad lot in life other than suffer through it and get beyond it and live her life to the very best of her ability, giving her body and her heart to it completely.
In this collection of short stories from Ha Jin, winner of the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, readers are treated to plenty of tongue in cheek humor. Of the 12 shorts, it would be hard to pick just one favorite. I'd have to say In the Kindergarten and After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town are tied for first.
In In the Kindergarten, little Shaona hates that she's been sent away to kindergarten, sure that her parents will forget her now that her mother has given birth to a new baby. Between being bullied by Dabin, the biggest boy in the class, and being tricked by her teacher, Shaona is at her wit's end. But when she sees a chance to get revenge, she takes it and the results are hilarious.
When a Western fast food place makes its way to Muji City, its presence is met with glee by some and disdain by others. For the workers at Cowboy Chicken, there's much confusion over traditional Chinese ways and the foreign, western way of doing things. While "the customer is always right" may be the corporate motto, it doesn't go over well with the employees. As the employees continue to work at Cowboy Chicken, they become more disgruntled with the actions of their American boss, Mr. Shapiro, and Peter, their Chinese born/American educated manager. As the employees plot and plan their coup, they have no idea what's in store for them.
Written just over 10 years ago, it seems hard to believe that some of the stories in The Bridegroom are supposed to be set in present day. In fact, it was only because of references to modern day technology that I was able to tell that the stories weren't set during the reign of Chairman Mao. Regardless of the time period in which the stories take place, I found them all to be enjoyable.
It's a little early to announce reading challenges for next year, but it requires a little planning and I need your help. I've created the Books: Passports to the World challenge, where the goal is to read a book a week set in a different country. There are just under 200 recognized countries in the world today, my plan is to come up with books set in 52 of those places. Why 52? There are 52 weeks in a year, so each week I'll be posting a review of a book from one of the countries.
Here's where I need your help. I've created a list, and come up with a good number of books so far, but I'm hoping that you've read a book set in a country that I've not already found a book for and will share it with me. The list of countries and books can be found here. Please take a look and submit your suggestions for books that should be added to the list below. And don't worry, sign ups for the challenge are coming soon.
Knowing my love of colorful chick lit, @AMWLoveWideOpen brought this book to my attention and I'm so glad she did. While I've managed to find chick lit that covers various cultures, this is the first one I've read that focuses on the Arab world, particularly Qatar. And as an added bonus, the author throws in an Indian American point of view.
Three months into his marriage to Fatima, a marriage he initially resisted, Abdulla loses her in a fatal car accident. Though he had resisted the idea of marriage, he'd grown accustomed to having Fatima around and had grown to love her. Her sudden death left a void and he vowed to never marry again. It's unfortunate, then, that part of his duty to his family is to re-marry, specifically, one of his cousins.
Abdulla's cousin, Hind, has no desire to get married either. A bookish, yet stylish, woman, she'd like nothing more than to get her master's and work. Whereas most Qatari wives are content with shopping, she wants more from life. Feeling pressure from the family, Abdulla and Hind agree to marry after Hind has spent a year in London working on her degree.
I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship between Hind and Sangita, her classmate turned roommate and best friend. An American of Indian descent, Sangita was raised in a Hindu household. While she's familiar with some of the aspects of Hind's religion, Islam, she's not aware of them all and the author does a great job of highlighting the similarities and differences. With time running out, it's up to Sangita to help Abdulla and Hind figure out how they can, or if they want to, make the marriage work.
I had to laugh at some comments and nod in agreement with others as Rajakumar pokes fun at stereotypes and ideology. For example,
When she arrives for orientation, bang on time, which would have been considered early in Doha, she is the last student there. So much for trying to avoid the stereotype of being on Arab time.
Growing up in the African American community, there's always been a joke about people that consistently run late being on CP time. CP meaning colored people.
In another instance, Abdulla is called a Paki (short for Pakistani) and Sangita is surprised to see that he doesn't react, only commenting to her that he's Arab, not Asian. To which she responds, in reference to the West,
"They colonize the world and don't even bother to notice that we're different?"
"Brown is brown. Sometimes brown is even black," he says.
While the author doesn't spend a lot of time dwelling on how the Asian or Arab world is perceived by Europeans or Americans, it is interesting to note that the perceptions and stereotypes of people of color can be just as damaging in Europe as they are in America.
This was a short and enjoyable read. At only $ 2.99 (free for Prime members) in the Amazon store, you should definitely check it out if you're looking to broaden your mind.
In 1986 India, four of the most important determinants of a woman's future were the tone of her skin, her caste, her home village and her family's wealth. Based on these things, Pullamma, at the age of 16, has resigned herself to living with her grandmother forever. As one of three orphaned sisters, Pullamma is the darkest and most unattractive.
With her oldest granddaughter married off, Ammamma begins to worry about the fate of Pullamma. While it should be easy enough to marry off Lata, Pullamma's beautiful, light skin twin, it won't be easy to find a match for Pullamma. The only hitch in Ammamma's plan is Lata has no desire to get married. In a time and village that placed little emphasis on girls beyond the 12th class, and actually frowned upon girls doing well in school, Lata not only passes the 12th class, but does so with distinction. A smart girl, she dreams of becoming a doctor, but as Ammamma asks, "With such good marks, how am I to find her a suitable groom..." Pullamma, on the other hand, only dreams of getting married.
Just as Lata is about to wed into a family that respects her dreams and will allow her to continue her studies to become a doctor, a local politician intervenes and changes the fate of both Lata and Pullamma. Suddenly, Pullamma has the life Lata always wanted and the beautiful Lata becomes a shrewd and bitter woman out for revenge at any cost, even if it means destroying her twin.
I can't remember how this book came across my radar. I think it was recommended by Amazon based on other books I've read, but I can't be sure. Regardless of how I stumbled across it, I'm glad I did. Tell A Thousand Lies is a brilliant effort from Rasana Atreya. As she tells the story of Pullamma and her family, she also gives glimpses into the Telugu community and Hindu beliefs ad practices
I loved this book because Atreya kept me on my toes while reading it. At no point did I ever really know how the story was going to end. And a sure sign that a book has pulled me in, I found myself talking out loud to the characters, knowing good and well they couldn't hear me. If you love learning about new cultures and love a good story, do yourself a favor and give Tell A Thousand Lies a read.
This Burns My Heart was one of my favorite reads last year. I was so excited when I found the author, Samuel Park, on Twitter. He's witty, charming and down to earth. I've not run across many authors on Twitter that live tweet reality TV in one breath and discuss Jane Austen in the next, but he does it well. To celebrate the release of This Burns My Heart in paperback, he's doing a tour around the blogosphere. Luckily, he's landed with us today. Check out the interview, book trailer and a giveaway below.
1. This Burns My Heart was one of my favorite reads last year. You did an excellent job of telling the story from a woman’s point of view. What inspired you to tell what is loosely your mother’s story and how did you manage to capture the female voice so well?
Thank you for your kind words--I’m thrilled that you liked the book! I was inspired to tell my mother’s story by two things that happened around the same time: one, my sister gave birth to a daughter, which led me to wonder about mother-daughter relationships; two, I moved for my job, and for the first time in years, I was living in a different state than my mother. Being apart from her helped me think of her as her own person, rather than just as my mother, and it helped me realize what an incredible life she’d led, and what an amazing story it would make. In terms of capturing a female voice, I think it comes from growing up around older sisters. From an early age, I cared about what they cared about, and essentially would adopt their point of view in most matters, especially matters of the heart.
2. What was the hardest part of writing This Burns My Heart?
Writing the central love relationship between Yul and Soo-Ja. I had to rewrite that many times, because it was very tricky to get it right. Weirdly enough, it’s the part that’s at the heart of the book, and what keeps the readers connected to the story. I have a suspicion that whatever you happen to have the most trouble with—the stumbling block—always ends up being the thing that readers like most.
3. Would you consider This Burns My Heart to be historical fiction or contemporary literature and why?
I think the book is actually very difficult to classify. I could see it as being contemporary in the sense that the ‘60s were not so long ago, but it feels historical in the sense that the customs and the culture I describe at the beginning of the book are not all that different from how they might have been a century earlier. That’s partly the tension in the story: a nation moving from its past history onto the modern world. I guess I would call it historical fiction. I’d be curious to hear what you think!
4. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
The book is about a woman who makes a wrong choice and has to live with the consequences of that choice. And I think the message is that there’s no point in dwelling on what could’ve been, or what might’ve been, because whatever life you led—no matter how hard it was—was the life you were meant to have. And if you eschew bitterness and approach your days with virtue, strength, and kindness, eventually that life you lost—the good life—will find its way back to you. And this time you’ll have really earned it and will doubly appreciate it, because of what came before.
5. What books have most influenced your life most?
I learned to write from reading Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. That was like my M.F.A. in Creative Writing: just reading that book line by line, sentence by sentence, and seeing how he would craft beautiful language. I’m also a big, big fan of Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld. That book really taught me that you could create great drama from everyday life, and you could just focus on the domestic routines of the characters. Finally, I adore Pride and Prejudice, especially Austen’s unerring sense of character and plot.
6. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I had an actual mentor in Don Roos, the screenwriter. I was something like 22 at the time I met him, and I was a terrible, terrible writer. But Don did something amazing to me: he said, “You’re very talented, and I really enjoyed what you wrote.” At that age, that can be a transformative moment. I guess it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I try to do the same to young writers who come my way. I have this saying that goes, “You cannot overestimate people enough.”
7. What book are you reading now?
Right now I’ve been researching a lot for my next book, so I’ve been reading old annual agricultural reports. I’ve also been reading books about history and architecture.
8. What’s next for you?
I’m working on a new book, and because I’m superstitious I try to say as little as possible about it until I’m completely finished. But I can share that it’s again about a mother-daughter relationship, and again it’s set in a foreign country. And, like This Burns My Heart, it’ll deal with a lot of strong emotions.
9. I know from your tweets that you’re a fan of reality TV. What’s your favorite show and which reality TV character do you love to hate and why?
My favorite show is Survivor, which I watch obsessively. My friends know better than to call me on Wednesdays when it’s on! She’s not on anymore, but I used to love to hate Kelly Bensimon of Real Housewives of New York City. As a writer, you’re also an amateur therapist. I would have a field day with Ms. Bensimon if she were my patient. We could really go to town.
10. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I want to say that I’m super, super grateful to readers for supporting the book. I’m always amazed when I go online and see people quoting lines from the book, or having discussions about the characters. It’s incredible to me that the world of the book feels as real to my readers as it does to me. They talk about the characters as if they were real people, and for a writer, I can’t imagine anything more gratifying than that!
