An evocative family drama and a riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood for two very different women–from the New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation.

Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her rural Chinese village without money or family support, fleeing a controlling husband, on a desperate search for the daughter who was taken from her at birth–another female casualty of China’s controversial One Child Policy. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she’s forced to make increasingly desperate decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her daughter.

Meanwhile, publishing executive Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a prestigious family name and the wealth that comes with it, a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. She’s even hired a Chinese nanny to help her balance the demands of being a working wife and mother. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardize not only Rebecca’s job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble and her role in her own family is called into question.

The Leftover Woman finds these two unforgettable women on a shocking collision course. Twisting and suspenseful and surprisingly poignant, it’s a profound exploration of identity and belonging, motherhood and family. It is a story of two women in a divided city–separated by severe economic and cultural differences yet bound by a deep emotional connection to a child.

My Review

What is a leftover woman?

“in China,” says Jasmine,”I’d seen posters warning girls of the danger of becoming leftover women, women that no one wanted. Leftover like scraps on a table, uneaten food, both a sacrilege and wasteful…. I was a leftover woman, I realised. After everyone else had carved away what they wanted to see in me and taken what they desired, I was all that was left.”

But the root of this story is the one-child policy in China. For many families if the first born was a baby girl, she was given away at birth or even left abandoned to die. They could then try again for a boy, a son to pass on the family name, run the business and look after his parents in their old age. This is very hard for us in the west to comprehend. In fact the whole book is out of my field of reference, not just Jasmine, but also Rebecca.

At 14 years old, Jasmine’s parents sold her to Wen, an ‘older’ man (in his mid to late twenties), who wants a wife to bear him a son. They are not legally married, as Jasmine is under age. I cannot imagine selling my child at 14. Jasmine has a baby a few years later – a girl – but she dies almost immediately after birth. We know though, that she didn’t die, she was taken to an orphanage and ‘sold’ to an American couple – Brandon and Rebecca. Brandon, who lived in China for many years and speaks fluent Chinese, is a university lecturer and a close friend of Wen, while Rebecca is an editor at the successful publishing house set up by her late father.

Jasmine finds out that her daughter Fiona (or Fifi), is still alive and living in the Beautiful Country as they call the USA. Her mission is to escape her abusive marriage and get her daughter back. Strangely though, she loves Wen, but then she only ever knew the love of her grandmother who has now died, and the friendship of a young man called Anthony, who Wen does not permit her to see. Wen also loves her, but it’s more of an obsession than love in its truest form.

We then alternate between Jasmine as the first person narrator (the English is perfect as the narrator though her actual English is fairly limited), and Rebecca, who dotes on six-year-old Fifi, but has to work and employs a Chinese nanny. The nanny teaches FiFi to speak Chinese and also introduces her to her own culture. Rebecca is jealous of their closeness. In spite of her success as an editor, Rebecca is suspicious and lacking in confidence. She has no understanding of what it must be like to be an immigrant in a country like America.

I liked both women, with some reservations. I sympathised totally with Jasmine, though I did question her behaviour at times. She is vulnerable, and an outsider in a country that is often racist and judgmental. Rebecca, on the other hand, is also vulnerable, though in her case she appears to have everything, but success and money are not always enough.

It’s an interesting book, beautifully written, which addresses many issues including identity and women’s place in society, whether they are Chinese (or any other nationality) immigrants or white, wealthy middle class. The chapters set in the strip club are horrifying to me, or maybe I’m being naive. The women can earn a fortune, but it’s what they have to do for the money. Are they demeaning themselves or are they empowered while the men are being taken for mugs? I really don’t know the answer.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author

Jean Kwok is the award-winning, New York Times and international bestselling author of The Leftover Woman, Girl in Translation, Mambo in Chinatown, and Searching for Sylvie Lee, which was a Read with Jenna Today Show Pick. Her work has been published in twenty countries and is taught in schools across the world.

She has been selected for numerous honors, including the American Library Association Alex Award, a Goodreads Choice Awards Semi-Finalist for Mystery & Thriller, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award, an Orange New Writers title, and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. She was one of twelve authors asked by the Agatha Christie estate to write an original, authorized Miss Marple story for the collection Marple: Twelve New Mysteries.

She immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five and worked in a Chinatown clothing factory for much of her childhood. She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and earned an MFA from Columbia University. She divides her time between the Netherlands and New York City.

Learn more about Jean here:
www.jeankwok.com
https://www.facebook.com/JeanKwokAuthor