Review: The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes (by Ruth Hogan)

My Rating: 4 stars

The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is a thoughtful book that both surprised me and humbled me in ways that I wasn't expecting.   Going into this book, I knew that the story revolved around difficult subject matter such as death, loss, and grief, and so I thought that this would be a heavy read, since most authors tend to approach these themes in a manner that focuses more on the dark and tragic.  It turns out I was wrong, as Ruth Hogan has a unique style all her own where she is able to take such difficult subject matter and approach it in a manner that is lighthearted, yet absolutely respectful.  Hogan herself was battling cancer as she wrote this book and as she describes in her "Author's Note," she chose to stand up and fight, facing her situation head on and not letting it get her down.  It is this personal experience that inspires the story, which revolves around the character of Masha, who is still dealing with the grief and guilt over losing her son Gabriel 12 years ago.  Masha is surrounded by friends and family who love her and want nothing more than to help her, but she can't bear for the past tragedy to even be mentioned.  She finds solace in visiting the local cemetery, the only place where she is able to either keep silent company with the souls of the deceased or share her story with them as she feels comfortable.  She also takes refuge at the local town lido, where she finds safety in her "practice drowning" sessions underwater.  Slowly though, things start to change for her when she unexpectedly meets two women who open up a new world for her — a mysterious bag lady named Sally Red Shoes who loves to sing while feeding the crows that constantly surround her, and a seventy-something disco queen named Kitty Muriel whose vivacious joy and love for life belies a tragic past of her own.  Through these two extraordinary women and the various encounters she has with them, Masha's outlook slowly changes and she sees the chance to start living again.  

This was a lovely, heartwarming story with quirky, eccentric characters that I absolutely adored.  Hogan writes in a descriptive prose that paints a detailed picture of each scene and in so doing, also brings each of the characters to life, though at times this also required a little bit of patience to read because the descriptions would sometimes go on for pages, making it easy to get so caught up in the details that I would forget what point I was at with the story — with that said though, the effort was definitely worth it.  I also loved the humor that was interspersed throughout the story, which I felt was perfectly balanced — no small feat given the sensitive subject matter, but done amazingly well in Hogan's capable hands.  

Ultimately, this was a story that went beyond simply a meditation on grief and death — rather, this was a story about hope and resilience and finding the will to keep living in the face of tragedy and pain.  This was an uplifting and inspiring read, one that made me excited to read Hogan's other works (both of which are already on my TBR).  Definitely recommended!

Received ARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley.

Review: The Summer Country (by Lauren Willig)

My Rating: 5 stars

It's not often that I come across a book where I fall in love almost instantly not just with the characters, but also with the setting, the story, the writing – basically everything about the book from the first page to the very last.  It's also increasingly rare nowadays for me to get so swept up in a book that I lose track of time and next thing I know, I've finished the book in practically one sitting (and at 480 pages, this was certainly no small feat!).  In her newest release The Summer Country, author Lauren Willig delivers a beautifully written, sweeping historical saga that felt epic in scope and magnitude, yet did not feel at all like a chore to read.

Set in 19^th century Barbados, this family saga spans 4 decades and revolves around two neighboring sugar plantations on the island – Peverills and the adjacent Beckles.  Told in a dual timeline format that alternates between 1854 – where we are introduced to Emily Dawson, a vicar's daughter who unexpectedly inherits Peverills when her grandfather dies – and 1812, with the story of the original owner of Peverills, Charles Davenant, and his relationship with Jenny, a slave in the household of the neighboring plantation Beckles.   These two  separate narratives involving two different sets of characters who live under completely different circumstances don't appear to correlate at first glance, but as the story progresses, the two narratives converge into a seamless, brilliantly woven story that absolutely blew me away.  It is usually the case with these dual timeline stories that one narrative is stronger than the other, but with this book, both narratives were equally strong and were so well done that I honestly can't say that I preferred one over the other.  Another aspect of this book that made it so endearing to me was the strong character development, especially when it came to the female characters in the story.  With historical fiction covering a time and place where society's conventions weren't necessarily favorable to women, I love how Willig was able to make every single female character in this story strong yet realistic, balancing each character's distinct personality with the historical limitations of that time period.  

For me, one of the things that set this book apart from other works of historical fiction was its amazing use of language to convey a time and place that felt so authentic, I found myself completely immersed in the time period and setting.  The prose (more specifically, the quality of the writing) elevated this book beyond just being great historical fiction — this was written so well in the language of the time that it actually read like a classic novel, which is something rarely seen with books published in modern day.  The fact that Willig was able to render a time and place (Barbados in the 19th century) so far removed from the current time period (21st century Europe or the United States) in a manner that made it come to life so realistically, speaks to her tremendous skill as a writer.  The amount of research that went into this book was astounding – prior to reading this book, I had no idea about the historical significance of Barbados and the slave trade that was so prevalent there during the early nineteenth century, nor did I know much about the cholera epidemic that occurred in that part of the world back in the 1850s.  One of the things I love most about reading historical fiction is learning about time periods / people / events that I knew nothing about previously – this book not only taught me a lot, it did so with masterful storytelling that was captivating and had me 100% emotionally invested in the story as well as in its characters, to the point that I didn't want this unforgettable story to end.  I'm a picky reader and I don't give 5 stars very often, but this one absolutely deserved it!  All in all, this is a perfect summer read --  one that is immersive, captivating, and will definitely make you feel as though you've been transported to another world.  Highly recommended!

Received ARC from William Morrow (HarperCollins) via NetGalley.

Review: Searching for Sylvie Lee (by Jean Kwok)

My Rating: 4 stars

I'm between 3.5 and 4 stars on this one so I'll round up.

This was a compelling story about a Chinese immigrant family and the struggles they go through to create a life for themselves in a new country where, despite their best efforts, they never truly feel that they belong.  Sylvie Lee is the beautiful and successful older daughter who was sent off to live with her grandmother and her cousin's family in the Netherlands when she was only a few months old -- despite being reunited with her parents when she turned nine, the time away unfortunately had a lasting effect on Sylvie's relationship with her parents – especially with her mother.  Amy Lee is the baby of the family – only 2 years old when Sylvie returned to her parents, Amy's timid and shy nature contrasted sharply with Sylvie's bold and fearless personality, yet the two sisters developed an unbreakable bond.  To Amy, Sylvie was her fiercest protector, a sister she adored and looked up to and, in some ways, became more of a mother to her than their own parents, who were constantly absent due to work.  One day, after flying back to the Netherlands to pay their dying grandmother one final visit, Sylvie vanishes without a trace.  Distraught, yet determined to find her sister, Amy flies to the Netherlands and retraces Sylvie's steps -- she soon discovers that there was another side to her sister she never knew about.  At the same time, the awkwardness of her cousin's family leads Amy to believe that they might be hiding something, perhaps having to do with Sylvie.  In her desperation to find her sister and convinced that she is racing against time, Amy ramps up her search, which leads her to discover a devastating family secret – one that, when ultimately revealed, threatens to tear the family apart.  What happened to Sylvie Lee?  And what role, if any, did her family have in her disappearance?

The first half of the story definitely had me enthralled and kept me turning the pages, not wanting to put the book down for even a minute.  Being a Chinese immigrant myself, I was definitely able to resonate with the various challenges that the Lee family went through as they tried to assimilate to life in the U.S. – the cultural divide between the parents and the children due to the drastically different environments in which they were raised, the impact of language and the communication barriers that can arise within the family as a result of differences in language, the never-ending struggle to prove yourself, to show that your parents' sacrifices were not in vain, the frustrations of constantly having to deal with the bias, prejudices, and preconceived stereotypes of a society that is less welcoming to those who are different from them,  the sense that you will never truly "belong" no matter how successful you become or how well you are able to align yourself with your surroundings.  This was the side of the story that drew me in the most and I felt it was very effective to have the narration alternate between Amy, Sylvie, and their mother, as we get to understand this family and each of the characters much more in depth. 

With all that said though, the middle section was where things started to drag a little and while it did pick back up in the end, I had actually already figured out most of the story by then, so it unfortunately made the ending anti-climactic for me.  I also felt that the parts of the story related to the "mystery" aspect, specifically dealing with Sylvia's disappearance, felt a bit detached and lacked the emotional pull I expected – when we do eventually find out "what happened" and "why," it felt rushed and the emotional aspect seemed like it was glossed over a bit...this was especially so during the "big reveal" scene at the very end.  In a way, I felt like perhaps there was a bit too much going on plot-wise in the second half of the book, which caused the narrative to unravel a bit as the story headed toward its end.   As a mystery/thriller novel, I felt this didn't work too well, as the suspense part was a bit weak in my opinion – I never really got the "edge-of-your-seat" / "hold-on-for-the-ride" feel from this one.  The cultural elements were well-done though and I feel like those elements, along with the writing, were what made this story well-worth reading, plus the fact that I was able to get a good feel for the characters and connect with them. 

Overall, this was a thought-provoking read and even though I wasn't too keen on the mystery / suspense aspect, I felt it did a good job exploring the challenges of being both an immigrant and a woman of color in today's world.  This is my first time reading Jean Kwok's work and of course it won't be my last – I've had both of her previous novels on my TBR for quite some time already and I definitely intend to get to them at some point.  After I finished this book, I did some follow up research and found out that Kwok's inspiration for the story came from her own family background as well as the tragedy her family experienced losing her older brother Kwan in a plane crash 10 years ago.  Channeling the pain and grief from that experience, plus her own story of immigrating from Hong Kong to the U.S. as a child and later moving to the Netherlands, Kwok was able to deliver a poignant, culturally resonant story, one that I definitely recommend!

Received ARC from William Morrow (HarperCollins) via Edelweiss.

Review: The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited (by Louisa Lim)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

June 4^th, 1989.  This is a date that has been seared into my memory for the past 30 years – a date that, being from Hong Kong, I have an obligation never to forget.  It doesn't matter that my family immigrated to the U.S. when I was barely old enough to talk, or that I was only 11 years old when the events of June 4^th took place, or that I was thousands of miles away, living and growing up in Los Angeles and barely even remembered what Hong Kong looked like at that time, let alone China, having never set foot in the country up to that point.

I first learned about the Tiananmen Square Massacre (which is referred to euphemistically as 'the June 4th Incident' in the Chinese-speaking part of the world) in my elementary school classroom.  We had been watching a usually pre-recorded news snippet recapping recent world events (a practice that was part of our regular curriculum at the time) and near the tail-end of it, the breaking news came in about the situation unfolding in China, where students from various universities had been protesting for weeks at Tiananmen Square, the heart of the country's capital in Beijing.  At the time, the information was sketchy of course, being that we were thousands of miles away and relying primarily on news feeds transmitted from foreign journalists in China.  While I don't remember the exact content of the news feed at that time, one thing I do remember from that broadcast were the shocked expressions on the faces of both newscasters as they relayed the little information they had, as well as the chaotic scene in the newsroom as everyone scrambled to get more details – to this day, those images have stayed with me.  When I got home, my family was able to fill in the details of what had happened, since our relatives in Hong Kong had already been monitoring the situation as soon as they saw it on the news over there and was relaying the information to us firsthand.   To be honest, I was too young at the time to truly understand the magnitude of what had happened – all I knew was that the situation was very, very bad, as the Communist government in China had resorted to sending in their military with guns and tanks to quash unarmed protesters.  Most of what I remember from that first week was watching program after program where practically every famous celebrity in Hong Kong at the time came out to denounce what the government had done and also, more importantly, mourn all the protesters who had been senselessly killed.  It wasn't until later in the year that I fully understood the significance of the Tiananmen Square Massacre for Hong Kong and why the reaction in the city was as tremendous as it had been for something that hadn't even taken place there:  Hong Kong, a British colony at the time, was scheduled to be handed back over to China on July 1^st, 1997 – a mere 8 years away.  Everyone in Hong Kong was terrified (and rightfully so) of having to soon be under the rule of a government that seemed to have no qualms about killing its own citizens for the mere 'crime' (in their eyes) of disagreeing with the Communist Party's ideology.  It was because of what had happened in Tiananmen that throughout the early 90s, there was a huge surge in emigration out of Hong Kong, as many citizens – especially those who had been the most outspoken against the Mainland government – were determined to get out of the city before the handover.

Many of us from Hong Kong vividly remember the events of June 4^th, yet in the country where the events took place, there is an entire population that does not remember – or, perhaps more appropriately, has chosen to forget.  This is where NPR correspondent Louisa Lim's book The People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited comes in.  Her book, which was published back in 2014 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, explores Mainland China's effective "erasure" of the event from not only its history books, but also from the minds of its nearly 1.4 billion citizens.  After that day of bloodshed, Deng Xiaoping and the rest of those in charge at the time were quick to label the Tiananmen protests as "counterrevolutionary turmoil" instigated by "ruffian mobs" whose previous actions of killing a PLA soldier justified the government's use of force in order to "bring stability" back to the country.  Over the past 3 decades, in efforts to maintain this narrative, the Tiananmen Square massacre has been continually downgraded and downplayed by the ruling Communist Party. As Lim writes in her book, "Deng's 'counterrevolutionary turmoil' has morphed over time into plain 'turmoil' and then a 'political storm.' Nowadays, if it is referred to at all, it is often called the 'June 4th incident,' a term notable for its blandness."  Indeed, in today's China, most of the younger generation do not know about Tiananmen while many of the older generation who lived through it have gone to great lengths to protect their offspring from knowledge of this past history for the sake of their futures.  One of the tactics that has made this enforced collective amnesia so "successful" for the Chinese government was the decision after Tiananmen to concentrate efforts on economic reform, thereby opening up a path to wealth and prosperity for millions of its citizens — the focus became making as much money as possible and with that money, buying up every material good that had previously been out of reach, effectively lifting many of its citizens, especially in the urban areas, from "grinding poverty to unimaginable wealth."  Today, China is an economic superpower, second only to the United States in terms of economic might and wealth.  In the many interviews she did as part of her research for this book, Lim expressed that she seemed to encounter a common mindset amongst many of China's youth today — when asked about Tiananmen, the few who knew about it often chose the path of willful ignorance, citing the "pointlessness" in mentioning the past when things were going so well for them currently….why rock the boat and bring trouble upon themselves when they can ignore the past and continue to enjoy the life that they have now?  To me though, what was more heartbreaking than China's citizens deliberately forgetting Tiananmen was the fact that, as Lim asserts in her book, many of the young Chinese who do know about Tiananmen "see the country's prosperity as a post-facto justification for the crackdown."  

Even with my knowledge of the Tiananmen events, reading Lim's book was still an eye-opener for me, especially in its portraits of those whose lives were impacted by what had happened in one way or another.  I was especially moved by the profile of the Tiananmen Mothers -- two elderly women whose sons were killed during the Tiananmen protests over a quarter century ago, yet to this day, they are not allowed to mourn their sons publicly and at times, not even privately.  The mission of the grassroots organization that they formed alongside others whose relatives were killed in Tiananmen is summed up in 3 words: truth, compensation, and accountability.  Over the years, they have been able to painstakingly put together a list that confirms the identities of more than 200 victims killed in the crackdown.  Despite decades of continual harassment and monitoring from the government, as well as being forced to "disappear" every year whenever the anniversary rolls around, the Tiananmen Mothers have continued to remain relentless in their mission to keep the memory of Tiananmen alive.

 Today, the only place on Chinese soil where the Tiananmen massacre can be publicly commemorated is Hong Kong, where the "one country, two systems" pledge given by Mainland China during the handover guaranteed its citizens continued autonomy and freedoms for 50 years.  Every June 4th, students in Hong Kong organize a huge rally attended by tens of thousands and also hold a symbolic 64-hour hunger strike in honor of the victims.  With this year being the 30th anniversary, commemoration events were especially poignant, with record numbers of Hong Kongers attending the events (though no doubt that the timing of the anniversary date to other recent spats with the HKSAR government also drove up the number of people in attendance who view Tiananmen in a more symbolic light, of their own freedoms being slowly eroded).   It is no coincidence that in the 22 years since the handover, the relations between Hong Kong and the Mainland have continued to be strained — even more so as Hong Kongers feel that more and more of their rights and freedoms (core tenants of the city's existence), are being encroached upon.  In fact, it is not lost on me that as I am writing this review, there is yet another protest about a matter related to Mainland rule (the extradition law that has been heatedly contested the past few months) going on in Hong Kong currently and that, once again, just like the 2 major protests before it (the Mongkok riots from 2016 and the larger scale Occupy movement prior to that in 2014), the protests in certain areas have escalated into a violent scuffle between protesters and the local police.   This seems to be the way of life there now -- Hong Kong used to be one of the safest cities in the world, but over the past 10 years alone, things have changed drastically.  When I returned to HK several years ago to visit relatives, I was shocked to discover a city that I no longer recognized, a city where everyone seemed to be constantly on guard, a city where people seem to have taken on a consistently hostile attitude toward everyone and everything, a city that seems to constantly be in a state of unrest and that I no longer feel comfortable or safe in.   

What happened in Tiananmen 30 years ago continue to have a lasting impact on not just China, but also Hong Kong as well as many Chinese-speaking communities around the world.  Yet, an entire nation has chosen to deliberately suppress memories of that day and wipe its existence from the annals of history.  This is why books such as Louisa Lim's are so necessary, even if only to serve as a reminder that history forgotten is likely to be repeated.  To this point, one of the most powerful passages from the book that sums up why many of us Chinese who live outside of Mainland China's borders feel it is an obligation for us to remember the events of June 4th:  "Memory is dangerous in a country that was built to function on national amnesia. A single act of public remembrance might expose the frailty of the state's carefully constructed edifice of accepted history, scaffolded into place over a generation and kept aloft by a brittle structure of strict censorship, blatant falsehood, and willful forgetting."

This book (and others like it) are important, not just to help us understand history, but also to help us remember it.  And while I'm not going to bank on those who have "forgotten" about Tiananmen (whether willfully or otherwise) to read this book and suddenly "remember," I do hope that for others who may not have known in the first place, books like this one help enlighten.

Review: Home Remedies (by Xuan Juliana Wang)

My Rating:  4 stars

 

I’m usually not a huge fan of short story collections, mainly because I don’t like the “incomplete” nature of short stories and the feeling I always get that I’m being left hanging.  One of the things I detest most when I’m reading is to get deep into a story and its characters, only to have it end abruptly, with no logical conclusion to speak of – the ones that annoy me the most are those that feel like the author stopped in the middle of a thought and the writing all of a sudden drops off (these are also the ones that always make me think I am missing pages somewhere and perhaps I got a defective copy of the book).  I guess you can say that I like my stories with a beginning, a middle section, and an ending, with characters that I can watch grow and develop over time and maybe even become invested in, which is hard to do with short stories where the reader is often only offered a snippet of a character’s story – what’s worse is that we are usually thrown in somewhere in the middle of the story, which means that it will likely take more effort to read and understand the nuances and significance behind each story.

Given the above, I was really surprised that I enjoyed Xuan Juliana Wang’s debut short story collection Home Remedies as much as I did.  This collection is billed as centering on the Chinese millennial experience and while I’m not a millennial, I found that I was still able to relate to some aspect of each story.  Separated into 3 sections entitled “Family,” “Love,” and “Time and Space,” the 12 stories in this collection covered universally relatable themes, yet still managed to hone in perfectly on the cultural aspects of what it means to be Chinese in today’s society.  As a Chinese-American who has lived in the U.S. practically my entire life, I found the stories about the difficulties of Chinese immigrant youth having to straddle two worlds and never being fully accepted into either one especially relatable, as it reminded me of many of the same struggles I had encountered back in my youth.  This collection actually covered a lot of ground and each story managed to be deeply nuanced, despite the brevity that is usually expected with short stories.  I was surprised by the depth of the stories in this collection and the cultural as well as emotional resonance that they evoked in me – as I said earlier, it’s usually difficult for me to get into short stories, but I dove into this set full force and found myself completely immersed.  With that said though, I also found it frustrating that the journey with each character was so brief, with each story dropping off at what I felt was a significant moment.  I wanted each story to be more complete, wanted to know what would happen to these characters. 

One of the things that set this collection of short stories apart from others is the variety, as each story had a distinctive voice, not a single one the same, yet the feelings and emotions the stories explored were often commonly felt ones.  I also loved the writing, which was at times lyrical, at times straightforward, depending on the story, but was always completely engaging.  This is an exquisite collection, one that I absolutely recommend.  If you’re the type who generally only reads a limited number of short story collections (for me, it’s due to a preference for the fully fleshed-out stories and characters that are often only found in novels), this is definitely one that needs to be included on your list.  Personally, I can’t wait to see what Xuan Juliana Wang has in store for us next!

Lastly, here are a few of my favorites from this collection:

“Mott Street in July” – about the transformation a Chinese family undergoes after immigrating to the United States – the opportunities they gain but also the sacrifices they have to make.  As an immigrant myself, this was the story I was able to relate to the most.

“For Our Children and For Ourselves” – about a rich, successful business woman arranging a marriage for her special needs daughter and the implications of that decision for all involved.  This one was the most heartbreaking story for me, not necessarily because of how the story evolved, but the feelings evoked from what was not said – feelings that felt so familiar to me.

“Fuerdai to the Max” – about second generation Chinese rich kids who are used to not being held accountable for their actions and what happens when that day of reckoning finally arrives.  This was an interesting one and I loved the angle the author took in relaying the events as they unfolded.

“Home Remedies for Non-Life-Threatening Ailments” – presented as anecdotal advice for various ailments such as ‘boredom,’ ‘self-doubt,’ ‘bilingual heartache,’ ‘family pressure,’ etc., this one was both whimsical and original, which I absolutely loved!

“Vaulting the Sea” – a coming-of-age story about two synchronized divers on the verge of finding success at the Olympics.  This was a beautifully rendered story that I felt was the most real in the way it dealt with the characters’ emotions and relationships.

“Algorithmic Problem Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships” – about a father who uses equations and algorithms to explain his relationship with his daughter, this was a fun one that depicts what happens when cultures clash within a family.

“The Strawberry Years” – about a young man named Yang who is tasked with looking after a famous actress, only to have her refuse to leave and end up overtaking his life.  This one captured the ubiquitous influence of social media perfectly, which I found absolutely fascinating.

“Echo of the Moment” – about a Chinese-American girl living in Paris who finds herself in possession of an entire wardrobe of designer clothes belonging to a young model who had committed suicide a few days earlier.  The supernatural slant to this story made for some compelling reading!

Received ARC from Hogarth via Edelweiss.