Review: Good Fortune (by C.K. Chau)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

As a long time Jane Austen fan, I've re-read her most popular (and well-known) novel Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count since encountering it for the first time back in 8th grade (don't ask me how long ago that was, lol).  Given how much I love P&P (it's definitely one of my favorite novels of all time), I've always been extremely wary of any books that attempt to retell or reimagine the classic in any way, shape, or form — that is to say, I try to avoid reading any retellings as much as possible.  With that said, there are occasions (albeit rare) where I'm drawn to a book precisely because of its P&P and/or Austen adjacent angle and end up really glad that I decided to give the book a chance due to how much I enjoyed the experience.  C.K. Chau's debut novel Good Fortune, a contemporary retelling of P&P set in New York's Chinatown, fit the bill perfectly. 

I was actually first drawn to this book out of curiosity, as I was interested in seeing what a Chinese-American spin on P&P would look like. Then, after I read the premise, I was even more interested, as I saw that the book would combine several things that were long familiar to me — the Pride and Prejudice story, Chinese culture and traditions, an immigrant family story, cultural identity, and best of all, an entire cast of characters who were all ethnically Chinese (with the exception of one character).  Once I started reading the book however, I was even more delighted to discover that the family at the center of the story (as well as most of the major characters) were all from Hong Kong (my birth city), and more importantly, the entire story would be permeated with not just Chinese culture, but more specifically Cantonese culture (which is what I grew up with and know very well).  I can't emphasize enough how rare it is to see Cantonese culture — my culture — represented so authentically in a mainstream American novel (and it's even more refreshing to see both the good and the not-so-good aspects represented).  I loved how Chau was able to seamlessly work in so many elements from a culture that I was more than familiar with:  the family-run Chinese restaurant where everyone was expected to chip in to keep the business afloat; the nosy and gossipy neighborhood aunties with their relentlessly prying questions (one of my favorite scenes in the book was during Alexa's wedding when the 5 Chen sisters were forced to politely endure the way-too-personal rapid-fire questions from a bunch of oblivious aunties — a "ritual" that I've endured countless times growing up, lol); the Cantonese turns-of-phrases sprinkled throughout the dialogue (in addition to the actual Cantonese words, I got a kick out of seeing colloquialisms such as "ai ya" and "aa" and the "la" at the end of some sentences); the descriptions of local Cantonese cuisine and dishes that, frankly, made me salivate; the Hong Kong pop culture references (I laughed when I saw TVB dramas mentioned at one point in the story); and what I loved most of all, the weekly Cantonese family tradition of yum cha (aka dim sum) — in one (amongst many) of my favorite scenes, Chau perfectly captured the "mad chaos" yum cha experience as we Cantonese are used to experiencing it: the standing room only wait amongst a sea of people for your number to be called, the musical chairs dance / fight for a table, the designated person in the family responsible for chasing down the aunties with the dim sum carts, then getting back to the table only to find that the only food left is whatever you have in your hand (which you had to claw tooth and nail to get), the entire meal taking up most of your morning, only to leave hungrier than when you first arrived…my first thought when I read that entire scene was that only someone who grew up immersed in the Cantonese culture could write a scene like that (needless to say, I LOVED IT!!!). 

Of course, what would a P&P retelling be without the P&P story elements?  In this aspect, I felt that Chau did a brilliant job.  It was fascinating to see how she brought the story from 19th century Regency England to 21st century contemporary America, while also adapting to the modern sensibilities of the times.  Most of the characters we're  familiar with are here (though some with different names and backgrounds):  the Chen family headed by the father Vincent (who, like Mr Bennett, is constantly seeking peace from the chaos of the household), the mother Jade (a high-strung hypochondriac), and 5 daughters Jane, Elizabeth (nicknamed LB in the story), Mary, Kitty, and Lydia;  Darcy Wong, his sister Geo (short for Georgiana); his friend Brendan Lee who has 2 sisters named Caroline and Louisa; Charlotte Luo (LB's best friend); Geoffrey Collins (yes, that Collins), who is the only non-Chinese character in the story; Lady Catherine (yes, there is a character actually named "Right Honorable Lady Catherine") and of course, the main villain Wickham (though he is not called anything close to Wickham in the story, but P&P fans will instantly recognize him as the Wickham equivalent). In terms of plot points, Chau definitely adapted the story to modern times — replacing marriage proposals with job offers, an email confession instead of a handwritten letter, fundraising galas instead of elaborate society balls, etc. (just a few examples). And YES, Pemberley absolutely makes an appearance (but you will have to read the book to find out how and what).  Oh and there is PLENTY of Austen-style humor in here too (gosh, I can't remember the last time I laughed so often while reading a novel).

A quick mention regarding our favorite couple (how could I resist?) — the Elizabeth in this story was actually more "bad-ass" than Austen's original version, which I found interesting and cool (I ended up liking this version of Elizabeth as much as I did our beloved Lizzie).  In terms of the character of Darcy in this story — he was ok, but it was honestly hard for me to picture a Chinese Darcy…regardless though, I think it's going to be a losing battle no matter who tries to "become" Darcy, as whenever I hear that name, the only face that will forever come to mind is Colin Firth's (lol).

By now, it's probably pretty obvious how much I loved this one (though part of me is still a bit surprised).  While it's not necessary to have read Pride and Prejudice prior to reading this one (since the story works pretty well on its own), the reading experience is definitely a lot more fun and enjoyable if you're familiar with the original story (and it's a bonus if you're familiar with the culture aspects as well).  This clever and charming story ended up being the P&P retelling that I didn't know I wanted to read.  I can't wait to see what C.K. Chau has in store for us next!

Received ARC from HarperVia Publishing via NetGalley.

Review: The Brightest Star (by Gail Tsukiyama)

My Rating:  2.5 stars



I had read Gail Tsukiyama's previous novel,The Color of Air, and absolutely loved it!  With that book, I was captivated by the beautiful, atmospheric writing as well as the emotionally poignant story that I sometimes still think about even now.  So of course, when I learned that Tsukiyama would have a new novel out — and it would be about one of the most important trailblazers for entertainers of Chinese descent in Hollywood, Anna May Wong — I was, of course, excited beyond words.  Not surprisingly, I had high expectations going into this one and was expecting to love it as much as I did Tsukiyama's previous work. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case, as this book ended up being a huge letdown.  My first thought when I finished this book was that it couldn't have been written by the same author as The Color of Air, as the writing style and execution here stood in such stark contrast, it honestly baffled me.  

One of the biggest problems I had with this book was the way that the story was told. Narrated from Anna May Wong's first person point of view, the story starts off in 1960, when Anna May is making a comeback from semi-retirement and is on a train across the country for a press tour to promote her latest film.  She brings with her a stack of notebooks where she has written down her life story and as she starts reading them on the train ride, the timeline switches to 1913, when Anna May is 8 years old.  From there, she takes us pretty much year-by-year through every aspect of her life, from when she was a child who would sneak off to watch movies, to her early days in Hollywood, to the height of her career and the last days of her life.  In the process, every single movie that Anna May had been in — whether as an extra or with a significant role — is covered in great detail (in addition to basic movie facts such as who the director was, the names of the cast members, where and when the movie premiered, the reactions from audiences and critics, etc., there were also details on how she got each part, what led up to it, how she was treated and how she felt, what the aftermath was, etc. etc.)  Normally, first person narrative wouldn't be a problem, but in this instance, the voice was incredibly stilted and devoid of emotion — to the point that I felt like I was reading a long-form Wikipedia entry of Anna May's life (except told in first person). Also, the way nearly every acting venture and personal milestone in Anna May's life was recounted chronologically, and in exhaustive detail, made the story feel repetitive and tedious — I felt like I was reading about the same things over and over and over again, just with different people involved (and sometimes in different cities).  I actually started to get bored about half way through the book and resorted to skimming whole sections so I could get to the end faster.

Another problem was that this story did not read like historical fiction at all.  While it was obvious that Tsukiyama did a lot of research on Anna May's life, the way the information was presented felt like I was reading a history book, which definitely did not work for me.  I hate to say it, but the lack of emotion and atmospheric nuance (which I expect in historical fiction) made it feel to me as though the author simply took all the notes she had, organized it chronologically, changed the voice to first person, put in a prologue and epilogue, and voila, a retrospective of Anna May's life in book format. 

To me, this book was a missed opportunity. Executed differently, this story had the potential to be a powerful expose of the entertainment industry and the way it treated/still treats people of color.  It also had the potential to be a moving story about a fascinating woman of color who struggled pretty much her entire career (and life) to gain acceptance into a notoriously misogynistic, biased, unforgiving industry — and the sacrifices she had to make in order to pave the way for other Asian entertainers who would come after.  Instead, we got a robotic, paint-by-numbers recounting of Anna May's life that lacked emotional depth — plus I felt like most of the information in this book, with the way it was presented, I could've gotten myself by spending a few hours searching the internet, which honestly adds to the disappointment.

Since I've enjoyed Tsukiyama's previous works, I hope this book was an anomaly and that her next one will go back to the style that I'm used to seeing from her.  

Received ARC from HarperVia via NetGalley.

Review: We Two Alone (by Jack Wang)

My Rating: 4 stars

Those familiar with my reading tastes have probably heard me say this way too many times:  I'm not usually a huge fan of short story collections because I don't like the "incomplete" nature of the format, as I always feel like I'm left hanging somehow, plus I oftentimes don't get the chance to connect to the characters the way I would in a full length novel.  Even though it can be a "hit or miss" reading experience for me, I will still pick up a short story collection if the themes or subject matter sound interesting enough to me – especially since, at least recently, I've encountered "hits" more than "misses" in the ones I've decided to try.  Such is the case with Jack Wang's debut short story collectionWe Two Alone, which I finished over the course of a busy weekend.  This well-written collection consists of seven stories, each of which features a Chinese protagonist from different walks of life, but with the common experience of having to navigate the world as immigrants.  

 

Over the years, I've read plenty of stories about the Chinese immigrant experience, but this particular collection stood out in several ways.  First was the setting of each story, which spanned not only continents but also decades -- starting in the 1920s and spanning to the modern day, each story takes place in a different part of the world:  Canada, China, Austria, South Africa, UK, and 2 states in the U.S. (Florida and New York).  Second was the characters, all of whom hailed from different backgrounds (from the poor, uneducated, disenfranchised, to the wealthy and privileged, to the middle class) and professions (doctor, actor, hockey player, student, teacher, etc.).  Not only that, each story was also told from a different life perspective -- ranging from an orphaned teenager struggling with identity and acceptance, to a mixed race couple navigating the complexities of an unconventional relationship, to a middle class family experiencing unexpected hurdles when buying a house, to an innocent child inadvertently witnessing the atrocities of war, to an itinerant actor endlessly trying to figure out his life while yearning to reunite with his ex-wife, etc. 

 

Taken together, this is a collection that truly does highlight the diversity of the Chinese diaspora, yet at the same time, it also infers that there is a certain universality to the immigrant experience in terms of discrimination, bias, and racial prejudice that so many of us can relate to, regardless of whether we are from the same cultural or socio-economic background.   In this regard, I was actually able to resonate with some aspect of every single story, which is a rare occurrence for me with short story collections (and especially with a collection as diverse as this one).  With that said though, this also made the feeling of disappointment greater for me knowing that I was only getting a snippet of each character's story and would be left to ponder their fate on my own.  This is one of the things with short story collections (specifically the ones with no inter-connected characters) that I can't stand – the feeling of being left hanging.  With whatever story I read, I need to have closure – whether good, bad, or ambiguous, doesn't matter as long I don't feel like something's missing or the story is incomplete.  But of course, that's just me -- aside from the lack of closure issue (which is a common feature of most short stories and definitely not exclusive to this book), I still enjoyed this collection immensely and absolutely recommend it.  Prior to reading this collection, I had actually never heard of this author before, but I'm happy to have discovered his work and look forward to reading more from him in the future.

 

Received ARC from HarperVia publishers via Edelweiss.

 

 

Review: The Color of Air (by Gail Tsukiyama)

My Rating:  5 stars

Gail Tsukiyama is an author I’ve been wanting to read for awhile.  I’ve had a copy of her most famous work, Women of the Silk, on my bookshelf for years, but unfortunately haven’t had the chance to read it yet.  Well, that might change now after reading her newest work The Color of Air, which I enjoyed to the point that I want to go back and explore her backlist while waiting impatiently for her next work.   

I love the way Tsukiyama writes — in a style that is quiet and gentle, yet the story still packs a punch.  With this book, Tsukiyama takes her time with the narrative — slowly, chapter by chapter, we learn about the Japanese-American family at the center of the narrative, but more than that, we also learn the stories of those around them, all members of the close-knit community in the town of Hilo, Hawaii.   Set against the historical context of the Mauna Loa volcano’s eruption in 1935, this event was woven beautifully into the story, with its juxtaposition against the return of the town’s beloved young doctor Daniel Abe and the secrets that slowly come to light, both within the family and in the community.  A sense of anticipation permeates the story — both in terms of the aftermath of the eruption (the question of the lava flow’s direction and what will happen to those in its path) as well as the revelation of long-held secrets within the family and the community —and we are left to wonder, as the story progresses, what the path forward will be for all the characters.   From a historical perspective, Tsukiyama also weaves into her narrative the lesser known history of Asian indentured servitude on Hawaii’s sugar plantations.  Uncle Koji’s story of how his family arrived in Hawaii from Japan as contracted immigrant workers on the plantations -- a stint that was only supposed to last 3 years but turned into a lifetime.  Related to this, there is also Razor’s story and what happened to him as one of the workers on the plantations, snippets of which are shared through Koji’s memories of his best friend, but also through Razor’s own “voice” at the end of some of the sections.   The way that the past and present blended together so seamlessly, this worked well from a narrative structure perspective.

Speaking of the characters, this was one of those rare instances where I loved the entire cast of characters, whether major or minor.  Each character was unforgettable and grew fonder to me with the progression of the story from one chapter to another and all the way through to the end.  Daniel, Koji, Samuel, Wilson and Mano, all were great characters, but the ones that left the biggest impression on me were the women in the story – Mariko, Nori, Mama Natua, Maile, Leia, the Hilo Aunties.  I was moved by the strong bond that they all shared – an unbreakable bond that continued to endure not only through all of life’s ups and downs, but also was strong enough to even transcend death.  One of the unique aspects of Tsukiyama’s storytelling is her ability to portray all her characters with such tenderness and compassion.  These are characters who endure a lot, plus there are the complicated family dynamics, the conflicts, the drama that inevitably follows, yet the underlying message of hope and resilience is so strong.   At its core, this is also an immigrant story, but one that is lovingly told as well as rooted in hope from the getgo. 

I enjoyed everything about this book, from the characters, the story, and of course, the incredibly atmospheric writing.  The lush descriptions of the island’s landscape, as well as its history and people, gave such a tremendous sense of time and place – to the point that the setting came alive almost as though it were a character itself.  Loved this one and definitely recommend it!

Received ARC from HarperCollins (HarperVia) via NetGalley.