Review: Forbidden City (by Vanessa Hua)

My Rating:  3.5 stars

In her third book (and second novel), journalist Vanessa Hua explores the political history of the years leading up to and during China's Cultural Revolution from an angle that is rarely brought up or written about in mainstream works that discuss China: Mao Zedong's fascination with ballroom dancing and the resulting practice of recruiting dance troupes to entertain him as well as other Communist Party elite at various gatherings.  Hua states in her Author's Note that seeing documentary footage of "Chairman Mao surrounded by giggling young women in tight sweaters" intrigued her, but when she tried to find more information, there unfortunately wasn't much.  By piecing together some revelations about Mao's habits and proclivities relayed by his doctor in his memoir, it was understood that these young women existed, but rarely ever mentioned or acknowledged in official records.  So based on this information as well as what is publicly known about Mao's complicated relationship with his personal secretary Zhang Yufeng (who met Mao when she was 18 years old and he was in his sixties), Hua created the fictitious character of peasant girl-turned-revolutionary Mei Xiang in the hopes of giving a voice to the "impoverished women who have shaped China in their own ways yet remain absent from the country's official narrative."

Growing up as the youngest in a family of 3 daughters in an impoverished village in China, Mei Xiang dreams of becoming a model revolutionary and a patriotic heroine adored and worshipped by many.  During one of the Communist Party's recruitment schemes in the villages, Mei Xiang jumps at the opportunity to leave her plight behind.  Arriving at the capital, she comes to understand that the "duty" she was recruited for involves dancing with Party elite as part of a specially trained dance troupe.  It is at these dances that she meets the Chairman, the head of the Party as well as the country — a man that she (as well as most of the population) has been taught to idolize ever since he come to power years ago.  Soon, Mei Xiang becomes the Chairman's close confidante and paramour, and when the Chairman starts to involve her in his political missions, Mei feels she is finally on the path to achieving her dreams.  But as the Cultural Revolution becomes a reality and Mei witnesses the atrocities that result from it, she begins to doubt the truth of what she had been told her entire life.  It's not until she moves toward disillusionment that Mei starts to understand what this realization will ultimately cost her. 

Vanessa Hua's previous novel — her debut  River of Stars — covered a topic that I rarely (if ever) saw written about in fiction: birth tourism.  This time around, with her second novel, Hua once again explores yet another rarely-discussed topic — one that often gets buried when it comes to discourse surrounding China and the Cultural Revolution.  As familiar as I was with this time period and the historical context of China's Cultural Revolution, the angle of Mao's relationship with the women in his inner circle and him possibly using them in his political machinations was an altogether less familiar topic for me.  Hua's research in this regard was meticulous, with both the historical and cultural elements especially well-rendered.  Having said that though, I have to admit that I enjoyed Hua's debut so much more than this one, mostly because I found it difficult to overcome my disgust with the relationship at the center of this story (a powerful man in his sixties manipulating a disillusioned sixteen-year-old girl). Even though I understood the reality and plausibility of such an arrangement during that period historically, it was still uncomfortable to read, particularly when it came to the more graphic details of the Chairman and Mei's relationship (much of which I honestly felt was unnecessary).  Structurally, while I liked the writing, I felt that the pacing overall was a bit off and he story dragged a bit too much towards the middle, with some of the plot points also a bit repetitive.  I also found most of the characters difficult to like, which I guess isn't surprising given the nature of the story.  With that said, I did feel empathy for Mei Xiang and her harrowing, heartbreaking story — a coming-of-age story no doubt, but also one of self-discovery as well as self-preservation.

Even though I wasn't too keen on the subject matter this time around, I'm still glad I read this, if anything, for the insights it provided.  One of the things I appreciate most about Vanessa Hua's works is that she doesn't shy away from controversial topics and takes up the challenge of an uncomfortable story head-on (which probably has a lot to do with her journalist background).  I look forward to seeing what Hua will write about next!

Received ARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley.

Review: Deceit and Other Possibilities (by Vanessa Hua)

My Rating: 4 stars

 

Two years ago, I read Vanessa Hua’s debut novel A River of Stars, which presented a realistic take on the Chinese immigrant experience against the backdrop of the “birth tourism” phenomenon in the United States.  I enjoyed that book quite a bit, not just for the story and the characters, but also the way Hua was able to work the cultural references into the plot so smoothly.  I remember thinking at that time how much I looked forward to Hua’s next book and hoping that she wouldn’t make us wait too long.  Well, the wait isn’t exactly over yet, since Hua’s next novel has yet to materialize, however a compilation of short stories that she had written over the years was re-released earlier this month, in a collection which includes newer stories that weren’t part of the version released back in 2016. 

This particular collection consists of 13 stories featuring protagonists from various backgrounds and all different walks of life, but with one commonality – the characters were either immigrants or from immigrant families, with the shared experience of trying to navigate two worlds:  the one they came from and the one in which they currently lived.  Of course, given the title of the book, each of the story dealt with the underlying theme of deception – whether it was the characters deceiving themselves, their families, or others.  With that said though, these stories actually went much deeper than that, as Hua covered a lot of ground in terms of topics, such as identity and belonging, family, love, marriage and relationships, religion, infidelity, loneliness and isolation, etc.  One of the things that made this collection stand out for me was the diverse nature of the characters -- who hailed from places such as Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Vietnam, Japan, Serbia, Africa – as well as how creatively different and varied each of the stories was.  Not only that, the other thing that impressed me was the way Hua was able to incorporate aspects of each culture so seamlessly into the stories, all of which were immersive and interesting to read.  It’s certainly not often that we get such a varied portrayal of  immigrant life, encompassing so many different voices and perspectives, all in a single story collection.

This is an excellent collection that I enjoyed and absolutely recommend!  My only complaint is that these are short stories, which are “incomplete” by nature, and so like I do when I read any short story collection, I felt like I was left hanging when each story ended abruptly.  Some of the stories I actually felt a sense of disappointment when I got to the end because the plot was at a climactic point, but then I turn the page and the story is over – several times I felt like the rug was being pulled from under me just when things were getting good.   But of course, I have this problem with all short story collections in general, which is why I will always prefer full-length novels more.

With this collection, I actually liked all the stories, so to pick which ones were ‘favorites’ is extremely difficult.  Instead, I am just going to point out which stories stood out the most to me:  “Line, Please” and “Loaves and Fishes” (because of the familiarity with the Hong Kong culture and setting, though the parallels to former HK celebrity Edison Chen’s real-life scandal were way too obvious!), “For What They Shared” (this was the most cleverly-written out of all the stories), “The Responsibility of Deceit” (wonderfully written story about an interracial gay couple dealing with the fallout from one partner’s ‘coming out’ to his traditional Chinese parents), “VIP Tutoring” (this one gave me a sense of déjà vu, as I actually know people like those in the story, with very similar experiences), “The Older the Ginger” (probably one of the most culturally-resonant out of all the stories), and “Room at the Table” (this was the story that I personally resonated with the most).

Received ARC from Counterpoint Press via Edelweiss.

Review: A River of Stars (by Vanessa Hua)

 My Rating: 4.5 stars

Those who live in Southern California may remember that several years ago, there was a huge boom in “birthing tourism” where pregnant women in China would pay a lofty sum for the “privilege” of traveling to the United States to give birth so that their babies would automatically get American citizenship.   The most notorious of the “maternity centers” that made these types of arrangements for the women were all located in San Gabriel, an area that was (and still is) home to a large community of immigrant Chinese.  Seven years ago, the largest of these centers (all operated by the same person) was raided and shut down after neighbors complained about noise coming from the property – authorities arrived to find that the center wasn’t just being used as a “hotel” tending to pregnant Chinese women before and after they gave birth, but part of the center was also operating as an unlicensed birthing facility.  I don’t remember the exact details of the news story now, but I think the owner / operator of the facility was merely fined a small amount of money and told to return the property to its original condition (there had also been illegal construction done where permits were never obtained) while the women who were in the facility at the time of the raid were all deported back to China along with their babies.  I have a friend who lived in the San Gabriel area back then, near one of the centers that had been shut down, and it was from her that I learned afterwards a lot of what went on in these centers and the conditions that the women who lived there faced.  The whole thing was huge news in the local Chinese immigrant community for weeks and had fueled a bitter debate amongst locals over the topic of immigration and the whole “birthing tourism” phenomenon in general. 

Based on the above, it should come as no surprise then that when I read the book summary for Vanessa Hua’s debut novel A River of Stars and found out it covered this exact topic of birthing tourism, I knew I absolutely had to read this book!   Going into this read, I thought I knew what to expect and for the first few chapters, that was definitely the case -- but then this book turned into so much more, to the point that I feel like I am short-changing the book by saying it is a story about birthing tourism and maternity centers alone.  Indeed, the story here goes much deeper than that – yes, this is a story about the Chinese immigrant experience, but it is also a story about identity, class and privilege, the economic divide between rich and poor, survival despite less than desirable circumstances (amongst other themes).   What resonated with me the most (aside from the immigrant experience and the setting in Southern California) though was the author’s exploration of motherhood and family – both of which, to me, were truly at front and center of the story more so than everything else that was mentioned earlier.  Through the fascinating characters of Scarlett and Daisy as well as the myriad of supporting characters who all play important roles in the narrative (Boss Yeung, Uncle Lo, Mama Fang, Viann, Old Wu, etc.), Hua didn’t just write a typical story about Chinese immigrants pursuing the American dream – rather, she gives us a deeply insightful, relatable, sensitive yet honest story that is at the same time culturally resonant as well as timely.  

This story is unique in that it has at its center two strong, spirited, determined, Chinese women who refuse to accept their lots in life and instead, strive to rise above their circumstances, overcome past mistakes, and carve out their own futures, yet are still able to maintain and evolve their cultural identities.  Being myself a female, born into a traditional Chinese family, an immigrant with one foot in the East and the other in the West, an active member in the global Asian diaspora -- I can’t convey enough how special the characters of Scarlett and Daisy were to me.  These are characters that I will definitely remember – deeply flawed, imperfect, vulnerable, yet at the same time strong, resilient, and inspiring.

This is a book I enjoyed tremendously, a story that hooked me from the first page, an entertaining read that was cheeky and fun yet also serious when it needed to be.  This book made me smile and laugh, yet it also made me shed a tear or two.  The writing itself was a bit uneven – I felt that some parts were overwritten while other parts could have benefited from more detail…. and I will be honest in saying that I’m not sure if I like the ending, which to me, the way everything was tied up, detracted a bit from the raw honesty of the rest of the story.  Regardless though, in the overall scheme of things, both of these were very minor flaws in my opinion.  Another thing worth mentioning is that the cultural references in the story – whether in reference to Chinese customs, traditions, beliefs, historical background, etc. -- were all spot-on!   The author Vanessa Hua in this case did not shy away from presenting the good and the bad, putting things out there as is and instead letting the characters and their stories speak for themselves.

One last thing – I didn’t understand the significance of the book’s title until I came to the part that mentioned the Chinese folk tale about the cowherd and weaver girl (a tale that I had of course heard many times as a child) -- which got me thinking about the story as a whole and the parallels to that tale despite the contemporary setting.  This made the story even more special for me.  Obviously, this book is one that I highly recommend – a story that is timely, relevant, and necessary given the world we live in today!

Received ARC from Ballantine Books via NetGalley.