I feel I have read a good number of Asian-American authors, but I had never read any works by Chinese or Taiwanese writers. I was thrilled when I received this book from Ken's dad for Christmas. At the most general level, the story is about a girl's "coming of age." She grows up in the 1970's with a large extended family in a small, rural sea-side village. The writing is casual and easy to read, though the subject matter is deeply personal and sometimes philosophical. At times, the writing reads like poetry. The main character learns to define herself in ways that are significantly influenced by her reverence for Chinese customs and traditions, her sense of filial piety, age-old adages passed down from family elders, and simple Buddhist maxims. As new experiences shape her, she finds she always turns in mind and body to her ancestral home, the place where she belongs. There is also a love story that, and without wanting to give anything away, I will say that I was a bit perplexed by the outcome of this relationship, but I'd like to imagine that the unwritten future - after the point at which the book ends - would unfold the way I hope it to.
While my personal growing-up experience has fleeting similarities with the main character's, there's not a lot that is outrightly the same. Still, the book evoked from me feelings of nostalgia, and even though the story is about a generation between me and my parents, I found myself wondering how much my parents would relate to the story. I wonder if they'll find the book true-to-life and meaningful, or melodramatic and dismissible (as I find some Asian-American works to be, having personal experiences by which to judge them).
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