Jean Kwok - Searching for Sylvie Lee

It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother-and then vanishes.
Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn't rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.
But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it's Amy's turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister's movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy's complicated family-and herself-than she ever could have imagined.
A deeply moving story of family, secrets, identity, and longing, Searching for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone-especially those we love.

Comment: This is the second book I try by this author. I liked the other one a lot but I confess I no longer remember much of what the plot was about, except the basics. I knew this book would have similarities (especially the mix of Chinese and American cultures) but it would have a different focus. I think the other book I had read before was a lot more rewarding to me...

Sylvie Lee is considered by all who know her to be successful and dynamic. She has Chinese origins but her childhood was spent in the Netherlands, where part of her family is, and at some point she went to live with her parents in America. She has a younger sister, Amy, who is a lot less accomplished, but with whom she has a close relationship. Everything changes when their grandmother, who never left the Netherlands, becomes sick and Sylvie decides to travel to see her. After the funeral, Sylvie goes missing and no one knows where she might have gone to or if it was on her own free will. Finally, Amy also travels to the Netherlands to look for Sylvie but she finds a lot more obstacles then what she anticipated. Will the family know what happened? What kind of secrets will need to be uncovered for the truth to be known?

I didn't have specific expectations of this book and having read the other one ten years ago, of course there wasn't much I could remember to compare. I do recall the other book to also have similar elements in terms of cultural aspects and I know that other book had hints of romance. From the start this one seemed to be focusing more on mystery/suspense details and, in my opinion, there is no romance here.

The book is told in first person by Amy, Sylvie and their mother. Most chapters are by Amy and Sylvie and the mother's are more about reminiscence and a few details which, of course, explain a few things neither girl could know and/or provide. Amy tells the story of what is happening after Sylvie disappeared and Sylvie's chapters are dedicated to what led to her disappearance. In between, we learn a lot about the pressure all have to perform, to maintain the appearances of their lives and what impact those around them had on all their lives.

I cannot say I was rooting for these characters because all had some kind of "flaw" let's say, which soon became annoying. There is a lot of inevitability and fate as elements which led their lives to go the path they did and this does clash a little with our contemporary and western way of seeing life as something we need to live but for which we make decisions. Sylvie decided to make those decisions and she found success and many other things which should be fulfilling but ended up not being so, which made her someone rather ruthless. Amy, on the other hand, had neither and to make it harder, a very low self esteem.

A lot of these thoughts come from the Chinese way of thinking and the customs their families adhere to, even when living abroad. Sylvie's family, however, for several reasons, socially behaves one way while in America and another while in the Netherlands. In general, I liked the writing, as I had in regards to the other book, but there were times where everything felt heavy and seemingly out of proportion. the first person narration also gave me opposed feelings: I liked being in Amy's head despite her personal issues because she seemed to be active and in a moment where things were still happening. Sylvie's thoughts were different, she was describing things that already happened and which couldn't be changed anymore.

I think it might have been a mistake to label this a mystery thriller. It's true that we don't know what happened to Sylvie until the end, but the road there wasn't as much about an actual investigation but what led to her disappearance. The several secondary elements we had to go through, namely the several characters Sylvie, in particular, interacted with, also contributed to the mystery vibes, but I will have to say that some relationships weren't described as interestingly as they could.

There's a twist, however, which might compensate a lot for the less good elements, and I confess I wasn't expecting it, perhaps the development leading to this reveal was so slow and rather boring that it took off some of the shock. We also learn how this affected Sylvie and what happened to lead to her disappearance but this element was very frustrating and a little pointless. I think the author could have found a way to present the information in a better way, to make this a more engaging novel.

All in all, an interesting experience and story, there were things I appreciated in the writing and in the plot here and there, but I think a lot more could have been done to elevate it. Thus, very generous four stars, if I were to think of that grading method.

Grade: 7/10

Alphabet Soup Challenge: Jean Kwok - Mambo in Chinatown

Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York’s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (America-born Chinese), Charlie’s entire world has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works—miserably—as a dishwasher.
But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie’s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed—something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds—Eastern and Western, old world and new—to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.

Comment: I got interested in this book after seeing a wonderful review somewhere. I immediately added it up to my pile - if I remember correctly it was back in December or January - and later I got the book. This month I decided I would read it and it was also a handy pick for the alphabet challenge for the letter M.

 

This is the story of Charlie Wong, a young Chinese woman who was born in America after her parents emigrated. Charlie has never done well in school, has been fired from many jobs and now works as a dishwasher in the restaurant in Chinatown where her father works too. One day her younger sister Lisa, a very smart girl, shows her a flyer about a job as a receptionist in a dance studio. Charlie is willing to try but the girls don't say anything to their father because their mother used to be a dancer in Beijing but after coming to America she never danced the same again and eventually died.

At first Charlie tries her best in the reception but her undiagnosed dyslexia surely doesn't help and she makes a mistake. Being used to help an older wise lady from Chinatown to teach tai chi, Charlie offers to help a beginners class and her bosses and co workers realize how talented she can be if only she learns. From here on, Charlie's life changes, her attitude and confidence too, and she has to balance both her lives, the new exciting one and her old, familiar traditional one.

 

I liked this story. It was a nice surprise and in terms of genre, it wasn't heavily dramatic or exaggerated. In fact, it was a sweet self discovery story with a very rich content.

I liked knowing Charlie and realizing how poor her family is, how difficult people from other countries who have a special way of living have to battle their existence in a completely different country, with different values and rules. I think the author told all this without making this story a propaganda for or against anything. It's just the way things surely are.

 

Charlie has been a respectful traditional Chinese girl all her life, she misses her mother, she takes care of the house and her family but she's never done well in school. It wasn't a matter of studying, we realize Charlie is dyslexic and no one has ever helped her so she struggled a lot. Her sister Lisa is her opposite and the young girl is very clever and in the story she will apply to a school where only some can enter. This doesn't mean the sisters aren't getting on well, they are friends and share many things. Charlie's new life will put a brake on some of her sister time because of Charlie's schedules but rest assured, they never get apart.

 

I was impressed by how well the author would insert details from a Chinese house, traditions, beliefs, ways of thinking, everything that can be part of Chinese mentality and behavior into this story. I felt I was learning a lot about a new culture without it being a text book. Some things are so different from what we, in Western countries are used to, that it seems unbelievable but that is the interesting part of it all.

Charlie works in a dance studio, so the story also has a lot of dancing related subjects and hows and whys and it was quite interesting to learn those things too. How marvelous the author could teach so many things while still presenting characters the reader feels invested in and wants to see succeed.

I liked the obvious dichotomy between Chinese and American cultures but it wasn't a way to compare and choose a side, I think there's a balance in everything and Charlie never looses her balance even if it looks like it in one or two situations.

 

Another thing I liked a lot was how this ends well. Yes, there's a HEA at the end...while I was reading I kept thinking this had everything to end in tragedy but I was pleasantly surprised to see the author chose a better, brighter future for everyone. How uplifting and amazing.

 

There are always expectations about the books we read, I thought Charlie would end up with someone different (she gets a boyfriend at the end) although I recognize the suitability of her choice. I also think Lisa went through something that she, being so clever and close to her sister, could have shared sooner, but she's 11 so, a discount is made. I'm glad her problem wasn't as serious as we are led to believe in some scenes.

Some situations also seem to be told rather simplistic which I'm sure is mainly for plot reasons, but I can understand the author tactics and choices.

I could be picky and talk about some characters' actions and some details but overall, I'm quite pleased with this story and I hope everyone I recommended it too will like it as much as I did.

All in all, a great story in my opinion.

Grade: 8/10