Synopses & Reviews
From the highly praised author of
Mona in the Promised Land and
Who's Irish? a generous, funny, explosive novel about the new "half-half" American family.
Here is Carnegie Wong, second-generation Chinese American warm heart and funny guy. Here is his WASP wife, the delicious "za-za-vavoomy" Blondie. Here are their two adopted Asian daughters, and their half-half bio son. And here is Mama Wong, Carnegie's no-holds-barred mother, who, eternally opposed to his marriage, has arranged from her grave for a mainland Chinese relation to come look after the kids. Is this woman, as Carnegie claims, a nanny? Or is she, as Blondie fears, something else?
What happens as Carnegie and Blondie try to incorporate the ambiguous new arrival into their already complicated lives is touchingly, brilliantly, intricately told.
Powerfully evoking the contemporary American family in all its fragility and strength, Gish Jen has given us her most exuberant and accomplished novel.
Review
"For the first time, Jen's writing is bland and unremarkable. In striving to create credible voices for her characters, she's abandoned her own." Craig Seligman, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Poignant, funny, and powerful...Jen's latest raises many questions about the significance of race relations within family life and provides an illuminating portrait of Chinese Americans. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"Psychologically and politically astute....Jen's eye for the complexities of American life is shrewd, her characters utterly believable." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[A] hugely entertainingly American family...a vibrant work notable for its unusual and arresting dialogue-saturated style....[A] smart, piquant, and far-reaching tragicomedy." Booklist
Synopsis
From the massively talented Gish Jen comes a barbed, moving, and stylistically dazzling new novel about the elusive nature of kinship. The Wongs describe themselves as a half half family, butthe actual fractions are more complicated, given Carnegie's Chinese heritage, his wife Blondie's WASP background, and the various ethnic permutations of their adopted and biological children. Into thisnew American family comes a volatile new member.Her name is Lanlan. She is Carnegie's Mainland Chinese relative, a tough, surprisingly lovely survivor of the Cultural Revolution, who comes courtesy ofCarnegie's mother's will. Is Lanlan a very good nanny, a heartless climber, or a posthumous gift from a formidable mother who never stopped wanting her son to marry a nice Chinese girl? Rich in insight, buoyed by humor, The Love Wife is a hugely satisfying work.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Synopsis
The arrival of a "cousin" from mainland China, arranged by Mama Wong to serve ostensibly as a nanny, throws the household of Carnegie Wong, a second-generation Chinese American, his WASP wife Blondie, and their three children into turmoil. By the author of Mona in the Promised Land.
Synopsis
Blondie ligner slet ikke sin kinesiske mand Carnegie og deres to adoptivd
About the Author
Gish Jen is the author of two previous novels and a book of stories. Her honors include the Lannan Award for Fiction and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives with her husband and two children in Cambridge, Massachusetts.