The Love Wife

Excellent use of multiple point of view...the sporadic nature of the different characters is, at times, delightfully confusing but nevertheless refreshing and comforting...it completely drives the story. The ending was a shock...what a turn of events in the life of a mixed-breed Chinese American husband and his family! The reality of the way the teenage girls speak is hilarious because I remember saying some of the same things to my parents while growing up. It just goes to show you that ethnicity does not matter...we're all "American," as is Jen's reigning theme in any of her stories. The humor strewn throughout the narrative is appropriately comical and the character dialogue is very relatable for the subplots that occur throughout show more the story. I wish there was some type of continuation because *spoiler* Blondie and Carnegie was still separated at the book's end, and I had to assume that Blondie was unaware of Lan's relation to Carnegie. I felt very invested in the lives of these characters, and it actually took me some days to read to the end, for fear that their lives would end when I turn the last page. Highly recommended piece of literature...perfect for "literary readers." It will be frustrating and will not "click" with those who do not appreciate the individual elements of a story. A perfect admirable, accompanying read? Francine Prose's "Reading Like a Writer," with its specific chapters on words, sentences, paragraphs, and narration. show less

I finished [Love Wife] and I was entertained, engaged. My feelings for the characters changed often. This is a story of mixed up family and kinship. Carnegie is Chinese but he is American and doesn’t know much of his history. His wife, labeled derogatorily by Carnegie’s mom as “Blondie” is sometimes more Chinese than he is but she is the outsider because she is not Chinese. Her daughter’s are rude to her, her husband doesn’t come to her aide, and Lan the Chinese woman brought over to be a nanny is out right an enemy to Blondie. I found it very interesting story. It was told in multiple voices of the family members in first person and the end parts of Lan did not help to improve my feelings toward her.

A new American bi-racial family, composed of a Chinese man, adopted himself, a white woman, and their children, both biological and adopted. As a new nanny is employed to honor the dying wishes of the matriarch of the family, a 1st generation Chinese immagrant, the family dynamics are sent spinning out of control. And, it's just not clear what the matriarchs wishes were motivated by, whether a hope to give the newly adopted Chinese girl a sense of culture or to give her son a different possibility for a mate.

The story, beautifully written and told, examines the human yearning to belong from a range of different angles-- country, parent-child, race, and love. Each of these different aspects of life are reflected in the characters show more feelings of lonliness and need to identify. Each character's voice throughout the novel is unique and complete, establishing the nuances of the story by letting each of the characters bring a little more to the reader, but from their perspective.

The ending of this book caught me by surprise and I had to read it again to make sure I caught it all. This was not a problem with the story, as I enjoyed it greatly.

4 bones !!!! Recommended to other readers, especially those who have been touched in some way by adoption. show less

I loved that it was told from 5 different perspectives and that it incorporated some Chinese culture, but that wasn't enough to actually make the book interesting. It was tedious. Man falls for nanny with a big twist at the end.

I really enjoyed this book. It was full of hard topics and relationships - adopted children, interracial marriage, surprise bio child and a relative from China coming to live with this family in the US. Ending has a surprise twist that left me wanting more. Fiction. Worth the read for entertainment value. I'd like to read more by this author.

The novel addresses important topics such as adoption and Chinese American families as well as marriage and family life and Chinese customs. It is written in a narrative format as told from the voices of the main characters. As a result, all of the characters reveal their thoughts and feelings through their narration of the events as they occur. I did learn many things about Chinese culture and appreciated the blending of families both through adoption and culture. I felt that the transitions in the narrations were sometimes not as distinct as they could have been thus causing some confusion for the reader. I also felt that the conclusion came with many surprises and a rather abrupt ending that didn't seem to follow the style of the show more rest of the book. show less

Read this if a completely ridiculous ending gives you satisfaction. The characters were a nasty sort and the book didn't do much as ambassador for the Chinese culture. Rude, obnoxious and sneaky being the dominant colors in this portrait. The author fell into writing for her teacher mode in more than one chapter. There are many, many excellent books out there if you want a great read. If you want something to pass the time while you travel and won't care if you lose the book: this is the one!