The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

 

My thoughts

I won this book on Instagram. 
Thank you for this.
@momandmadread @harpercollins @jeankwokauthor

Another new author for me. This book was SO good. A bit edge of your seat thriller in part. A bit of a love story. Adoption. It has a lot of emotions. An Asian American Literature book.

This book is so good. Even better than I had hoped. I had heard a lot about this book and was so excited to have won a copy on Instagram. It's got a lot but so easy to follow. With a bit of a twist that I didn't see coming. Not that I would have even ventured a guess at this. It was just so good.

Jasmine is with Wen and not truly happy. She has been through a lot with him. Then she finds out the ultimate betrayal and leaves. She goes to the United States... in search of the daughter she had been lead to believe died shortly after birth. How could he. After all she had been through trying to have a baby. He lied to her. He sold their little girl to a couple he knew. 

Rebecca is married to Brandon. They have a little girl, Fiona. Now I have to admit here that I got so sick of hearing this child called Fifi. Fifi is a dogs name. Her name was Fiona. But they truly love this child. Both parents work and they have a nanny, Lucy. Seems Fiona loves this nanny so much that Rebecca gets a bit jealous. I can see that. 

Anthony and Jasmine had been best friends since they were little. But when Jasmine married(not leagally) Wen she had to stop being his friend. Stop talking to him. Jasmine was only fourteen when this twenty-six year old Wen married(not married) her. 

Jasmine was in the US without any papers or identification of any sort. She came here illegally but with a good reason. She was escaping her abusive husband and trying to find her little girl. She got a job in a strip club as a waitress. Not a stripper. She was working hard to pay back a dept and to earn the money to live. Possibly even to find her little girl and get away from Wen forever.

This book is told from two POVs. Jasmine and Rebecca. You get to know them both and you will like them both in many ways. I got a bit mad at Rebecca a few times but I still liked her. I hated Wen. Loved Anthony. Loved Brandon. I liked Jasmine and I liked Lucy. I adored Fiona. How all of these lives intertwine is great. This author did a fine job bringing them all into play. Letting you get to know them pretty throughly. I adored the end and yes this book made me shed a few tears.

I listened to the audio along with reading this one. 

Narrated by Sura Siu, Caroline Hewitt 

Thank you @momandmadread for this book. I was so honored to have won this copy. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five huge stars.

@harpercollins 

@jeankwokauthor

About

An evocative family drama and a riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood for two very different women--from the New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation.

Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her rural Chinese village without money or family support, fleeing a controlling husband, on a desperate search for the daughter who was taken from her at birth--another female casualty of China's controversial One Child Policy. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she's forced to make increasingly desperate decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her daughter.

Meanwhile, publishing executive Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a prestigious family name and the wealth that comes with it, a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. She's even hired a Chinese nanny to help her balance the demands of being a working wife and mother. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardize not only Rebecca's job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble and her role in her own family is called into question.

The Leftover Woman finds these two unforgettable women on a shocking collision course. Twisting and suspenseful and surprisingly poignant, it's a profound exploration of identity and belonging, motherhood and family. It is a story of two women in a divided city--separated by severe economic and cultural differences yet bound by a deep emotional connection to a child.