The Modern FamilyThe Love wife by Gish Jen published by Vintage Contemporaries in 2005This book tells the story of a nontraditional American family and how they deal with not only the idiosyncrasies found in any family’s make up, but with the specific difficulties faced by an interracial couple made up of Asian American Carnegie and European American Jane, better known as Blondie. Their family is made up of their one biological baby Bailey and two adopted, Asian daughters Wendy and Lizzy, as well as the strong minded mother-in-law. While some of the problems this family is dealing with, such as their eldest daughter’s rebellious nature, are what are to be expected and faced by any family, blended or not, they have the added difficulty of handling cross cultural interactions when a woman from China, Lan, is brought into the family for questionable reasons by the husband’s mother Mama Wong. One of the most interesting aspects to this story is the insight to the culture clash between Lan and the family. With the introduction of Lan, not only do we see America through her opinions, we are able to see deeper into the characters themselves, such as Blondie’s enthusiasm to take in Lan’s opinions, going so far as to donate three of the family’s possessions everyday after hearing Lan speak of not needing so much stuff. Jen uses a few offbeat stylistic choices that for some may be off putting, such as, instead of the traditional parentheses to signal dialogue, she uses a dash before each piece of speaking. While not impossible to follow the conversation, I still found myself never quite getting used to this structure and feel it did not really add anything to the story. In fact, I think it slightly took away from my reaction to the story since I always noticed it so it pulled my attention from the story and also the dialogue would have less emphasis and meld in with the rest of the writing because of this.Another stylistic choice that may either work for a reader or throw them off is the constant shift of narrators. The upside to this style is it really gives an immediate and often fascinating insight to a single event as it takes place and we flick between different characters reactions. The downside with this style is that often I found that while reading longer passages, I would need to backtrack to remember who was speaking.While the story has its ups and downs with style, I found that there was a truly interesting interaction between the many characters. This is definitely a book for readers fascinated by culture clash in everyday situations such as those experienced between Lan and the family, as well as struggles of life between immigrant parents and their Americanized children and how the effects of that can ripple into the future life of the child.
Carnegie Wong is a first generation Chinese-American, with Blondie (his white wife, so nicknamed by his mother); two adopted daughters, one Chinese, one of unknown Asian descent; and baby Bailey, his biological child, who defies genetics and looks not at all Asian. His mother, Mama Wong, is the Asian fiction cliche (So common, in fact, that there has to be some truth in it. At any rate, I love the cliche, so so be it.) of the pidgin English speaking, passive-aggressive, iron-willed manipulator. After her death from Alzheimer's, Carnegie, through a distant relative in China, discovers her will, which requests he bring over Lanlan, a middle-aged Chinese woman who has had a terrible life. Lanlan is to serve as nanny to the children. Will Carnegie fall in love with Lanlan? What do you think?If you judge this book from the blurbs on the cover and inside, it is the greatest thing since War and Peace. It's not that amazing. It does have an unusual writing style: the characters alternate in telling the reader the story, almost as if they are being interviewed. However, the plot takes some rapid and crazy turns at about chapter 14, and the book never recovers. Whole characters (Gabriela, Blondie's New Age, midlife crisis friend; the Bailey family) are left with no resolution. I feel like Gish Jen was going for something too big here, a swing and a miss.
What do You think about The Love Wife (2005)?
I almost gave up on this book several times. The format and structure are so unusual it is often difficult to keep track of which character is currently speaking. But I am glad I stayed with it, it turned out to be a good story with lots of twists and turns and a great deal of information about life in China during Communism and the Cultural Revolution and about Chinese Americans now. Two of my girls claimed this was one of the best books they had ever read, and although I did not like it quite that much, I did enjoy it and for sure will not forget it.
—Anne Egbert
What is good about this book is that it undercuts the cliche of the always wise Chinese eespecially elders. The old mother is a nightmare, controlling her son from beyond the grave. The immigrant relative, Lanlan, plays a game of seducing the daughters of the family with 'Chinese wisdom' while seducing the husband in another way. The multiple narrators work well in the audio version, maybe not so well in print. The narration is heavy with the preteen, 11 year old Wendy, and the reader must suspend disbelief at the narrator's maturity and powers of observation, but it works ok. All in all, a kind of rollicking, free wheeling narrative of contemporary family life with detail that incorporates the immigrant experience.
—Beverly
I have wanted to read Jen Gish since she was the Writer-in-Residence at my alma mater, Boston College in 2010. Sadly I was disappointed in this novel. Many reviewers have commented on the multiple first person narrative the author employs which some found distracting. I actually thought it was an effective literary tool that moved the plot forward. Basically the novel is the story of a blended family created when a caucasian American woman marries a Chinese American man who has surprisingly adopted a Chinese baby girl. After marriage, multiple miscarriages lead to a second adoption followed by a successful pregnancy. The challenges the couple face raising their children are compounded by their cultural differences and the challenges resulting from the disapproving and almost hateful attitude of the Chinese mother toward her caucasian daughter-in-law. The depiction of this mother was one of the weakest elements in the novel. To me it seemed too stereotypical. The arrival of a Chinese female relative whose presence is to ostensibly "help" these working parents with their daily lives creates the tension on which the plot builds. There are twists and turns and a few unexpected surprises but somehow, as a reader, I was left unsatisfied.
—Suzanne
