A vivid, intimate account of the vast changes roiling the lives of Chinese women.
Money doesn’t buy happiness for a woman struggling with low self-esteem, a loveless marriage and China’s sexist mores in this anguished memoir and self-help saga.
Zhu’s narrative of her life with a never-named billionaire makes for a classic rags-to-riches story in new China, as the two build a successful real estate development company from scratch and ascend to a world of jet-setting luxury. Unfortunately for her, the dream becomes a nightmare. Endless work leaves the couple no time for family life—Zhu is heartbroken when her husband insists on sending their 5-year-old son to a boarding school so they can devote more hours to the business—and the high-wire financial gambles make her sick with anxiety. Worst of all, in keeping with Chinese conceptions of female inferiority, her aloof husband treats her as a servant and underling whose only function is to carry out his orders. The result, she writes, is an empty life replete with possessions but devoid of satisfaction in which her eyes became “lifeless like empty shells…fallen to the bottom of the sea.” Helped by translator and co-author Lee’s deft prose, Zhu’s interesting if melodramatic memoir illuminates many aspects of China’s transition to modernity, sounding themes reminiscent of an Edith Wharton novel. Zhu’s transformation from factory worker to woman of wealth, managing servants and negotiating the intricate rituals of business etiquette, is complex and absorbing. In poignant contrast, her desire for romantic companionship clashes with older notions of marriage as a prosaic, hierarchical domestic enterprise. We see a shy, uncertain, self-effacing woman reaching toward personal fulfillment as she tears free from Confucian–Communist ideals of dutiful self-sacrifice. Her journey of self-discovery, sparked by an Australian self-help seminar, can sometimes take the book into anodyne therapy-speak: “You need only be yourself for your natural vitality to rise.” Still, Zhu’s story is thoughtful, conflicted and honest enough to make her newfound wisdom feel earned.
A vivid, intimate account of the vast changes roiling the lives of Chinese women.Pub Date: May 20, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 103
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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