#Blogtour The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok.

"Fifth Season developing series based on Jean Kwok Novels The Leftover Woman and Mambo in Chinatown"

About the Author

Jean Kwok is the international bestselling author of Girl in Translation, Mambo in Chinatown, and Searching for Sylvie Lee, which was a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick and an instant New York Times bestseller. Her work has been published in twenty countries and is taught in schools across the world. 

She has been selected for numerous honours, including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. 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 currently lives in the Netherlands. Follow @JeanKwok On X (the artist formerly known as Twitter), Visit jeankwok.com

About the book

'I will find my daughter. No matter the cost...' - Jasmine Yang thought her daughter was dead at birth. But five years after she was taken from her arms, she learns that her controlling husband sent the baby to America to be adopted, a casualty of China's one-child-policy. Fleeing her rural Chinese village, Jasmine arrives in New York City with nothing except a desperate need to find her daughter. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she's forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her child.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardise not only Rebecca's job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble.

Two women in a divided city, separated by wealth and culture, yet bound together by their love for the same child. And when they finally meet, their lives will never be the same again...

Review

Throughout the trials, tribulations, pain, desperation and fear that play a heightened role for the duration of this story, it would be easy to overlook some of the smaller, but perhaps more poignant moments in the book. 

One of those is in the last few pages when the past comes full circle in a way, and some semblance of peace has been restored to the lives of the women who take centre stage in this book. It's fair to say that identity, cultural identity, historical and genealogical identity, play a huge role in the story. Also the division caused and lived when one culture melds into another, when Jasmine moves to America for instance.

It's never more pronounced than when Rebecca, her family, and the child they are raising realise how important it is to recognise the division and the necessity to acknowledge both for the child. That cultural and biological identity is a core experience that must be incorporated into her life.

It's a powerful moving story of love, motherhood and understanding what it means to have the strength to make the right choice for someone you love when they are unable to do so themselves.

Buy The Leftover Woman at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Viper, pub date 10 Oct. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.