Review: The Leftover Woman (by Jean Kwok)

My Rating:  3.5 stars

Now that I have a little bit of a break from the demands of work and school, I am hoping to get caught back up on the new releases and book club reads that I had been neglecting over the past month.  One of those new releases is Jean Kwok's latest novel The Leftover Woman, which came out earlier in the month.  I had read Kwok's previous novel Searching for Sylvie Lee several years back and had really enjoyed it, so of course this book, her newest work, was highly anticipated. In the end, Kwok definitely didn't disappoint, as she delivered a solid, compelling story that proved to be both culturally resonant as well as thought-provoking -  though not without a few flaws.

At the center of the story are two women from completely opposite worlds.  Jasmine Yang is a young Chinese woman from a poor rural village who enters into an arranged marriage at 14 to a man years older than her. After suffering several miscarriages, Jasmine finally gives birth to a daughter, but not too long afterwards, is told that the baby died.  Jasmine is devastated — until she finds out that her husband lied to her and actually gave the baby up for adoption so that they could try for a son under China's strict One Child Policy. Determined to find her daughter, Jasmine plans an escape from her abusive marriage and eventually lands in New York through the help of "snakeheads" whom she has to figure out a way to pay back.  Meanwhile, in New York, Rebecca Whitney is an editor at a glamorous publishing house who is living the dream life — she has a prestigious family name and the accompanying wealth and privilege that comes with it, and she lives in a beautiful house with a handsome, talented husband aa well as an adopted daughter whom she adores.  But balancing a high profile career with the demands of marriage and motherhood is not easy and when a work-related scandal breaks out, Rebecca finds her perfect life slowly starting to unravel.  The story is told alternately from the perspectives of these two very different women whose lives end up colliding in unexpected ways.

I really appreciated the premise of this story, especially Jasmine's storyline about her struggles fleeing an archaic, patriarchal system and the choices she had to make once she was in America trying to find her daughter. Not that I didn't like Rebecca's storyline, but I just felt that it was less necessary — I would've liked to see Jasmine's story explored more, as there were opportunities there that were only touched upon.  I will be honest in saying that I preferred Jasmine's story arc and the direction that Kwok went with it (though there was potential for more as I mentioned earlier), whereas Rebecca's story arc felt typical of other stories that we've read before.

Plot-wise, I felt that the first half of the story dragged a bit and the buildup was slow — I definitely preferred the second half better, though the ending also felt too rushed (and there were some plot holes that weren't too believable). Despite the pacing issues though, I enjoyed this one overall — the cultural aspects were done well and the "twist" did take me by surprise (though it didn't blow me away to the point that I keep thinking about it like I've done with other twists).  

I don't want to say too much, since this IS a mystery / thriller after all, so it's best to go in knowing as little as possible (though I have to say that the story was more character-driven than plot-driven, so from that aspect, the thriller element was less prominent).  I definitely recommend picking this one up, especially if you're looking for a story that has mystery / thriller elements, but also emotional depth and poignancy.  I can't wait to see what Kwok comes out with next!

Received ARC from William Morrow 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.