Jasmine Yang is on the run from her controlling husband, leaving her rural village in China to go to New York City in search of the daughter who was taken from her at birth – because the child wasn’t a boy. With no money and limited English skills, Jasmine must make some difficult and desperate choices while looking for her daughter. Meanwhile, Rebecca Whitney and her husband are a wealthy power couple who adore their adopted Chinese daughter. However when Rebecca’s prestigious career as a publishing executive is caught up in an industry scandal, it sets in motion a series of events that destabilize that perfect life.
Wow – this was such a compelling read. The chapters switching POVs between Jasmine and Rebecca really highlighted the stark differences in their lives both economically and culturally. It truly felt like two totally separate stories could have been told about each woman were it not for the connecting factor. I also appreciated that the author addressed the racism that the child experiences – particularly given that she does not look like her adopted parents. I felt it humanized (and humbled) Rebecca that in some instances she could get it right in her defence of her daughter while other times she may freeze up, not knowing how to respond to an unfamiliar situation she’s never had to experience herself before. With Rebecca, I could feel the conflicting pull of two sides: The genuine and the performative.
Of course, I have also heard of China’s controversial One Child policy before but perhaps never truly considered what that looked like for families other than that sons are the favoured ones. I appreciated the way that it was framed within this story to illustrate some of the repercussions it could have had – and likely did, more than we even realized. Shockingly, this policy only ended relatively recently (just 8 years ago at the time of this review!). For me, that puts the novel in a bit of a different light, since there were moments of this that felt like it took place a long time ago but then the characters would mention their cell phones, which set the story in more of a (sobering) modern day.
While The Leftover Woman has strong themes of motherhood and the lengths parents would go to protect their child, this book wasn’t “just” a family drama either. There were elements of organized crime, romance and scandal as well. As the story progresses, the lives of these two women intersect in a shocking yet satisfying way. Even in the few moments where I called what was going to happen, I still found it a gratifying way the narrative played out. I’m definitely a new fan of Jean Kwok’s writing now and look forward to reading her other books. Great for fans of Celeste Ng and Nancy Jooyoun Kim!
Review: ★ ★ ★ ★ (4 /5 stars)
Available: October 10, 2023
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A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
JUST A LIL LOST 