What I appreciate most about Jean Kwok's writing style is that she draws you right in. In a world where there are too many books and too little time, there are fewer and fewer books I read past the first chapter. I need to be hooked immediately and the Prologue for The Leftover Woman did that. Once I started reading this book I could not put it down.
The Leftover Woman Review
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok tells the story of two women, Jasmine and Rebecca, whose lives intertwine in New York City. Jasmine is Fiona's birth mother and Rebecca is her adopted mother. Jasmine's search for Fiona is what fuels the novel.
In a book about birth and adoptive mothers, I expected to dislike the adoptive mother. I don't know if there's any particular reason I expected this other than the book starts with Jasmine's story and she's immediately a sympathetic character. A new refugee, we follow her as she attempts to get a job despite her minimal English skills and her lack of papers. She needs a job to pay off the snakeheads who helped smuggle her into the country so she can attempt to find the daughter that was put up for adoption as a result of China's one-child policy.
Rebecca is an accomplished and powerful editor at a publishing house. Her husband is a professor at Columbia, and they appear to have the perfect marriage until cracks start appearing. One thing is clear, though. They both dote on their adopted daughter, Fiona. While Jasmine's struggle is survival in a new country and finding her daughter, Rebecca's struggle is trying to be everything to everyone – a brilliant editor, a loving wife, a doting mother, and everything in between.
The Leftover Woman has mystery, romance, and intrigue, and Kwok plays with the timeline a bit. Kwok's writing style is engaging, and she effectively conveys the complexities of Jasmine's and Rebecca's emotions. The cultural aspects are also well-researched and add depth to the story. But, as much as I enjoyed getting to know Jasmine and Rebecca, The Leftover Woman is lacking in some regards.
If you haven't read it yet, you might want to stop reading this The Leftover Woman review now. Some spoiler-ish information follows.
• Is it just me or does Rebecca's husband seem sketch from the first time we meet him? Nobody is that perfect! And then his “scandal” that lead him to be kicked out of China is so tame that I don't understand why Rebecca didn't know about it.
• On the other hand, how were they able to adopt Fiona without ever returning to China?
• The ending, at Rebecca's house, is a bit bonkers, eh?
• I loved everything about Anthony.
• After you finish the book, go back and read the Prologue. The way Jean Kwok ties it all together is amazing.
Jean Kwok's writing is compelling, and The Leftover Woman is thought-provoking. It's a solid 3.5-star novel that could have been a bit more.
