Nom de Plume

Su-Jen and her mother leave China and join her father in a small Canadian town in the 1960s. They are the only Chinese family in town. Isolated by language, Su-Jen’s mother becomes increasingly unhappy, a “rich girl” who now has to work long hours at the family’s restaurant. All changes when Su-Jen’s brother (same father, different mother) joins them–and her mother and brother form an alliance that soon crosses into an affair.

I am naturally predisposed to liking this book, because it’s what I term “diaspora literature,” or literature that explores displaced cultures, and this is a great interest of mine. And indeed, there are sections that are truly excellent, like the genuine love between Su-Jen’s mother and brother, and her inability to understand or forgive it. Even better is how Su-Jen navigates the two different worlds she lives in.

But the book hurtles quickly to its end, and the last few pages disappoint. The ending is rushed, without any real conclusion. Su-Jen’s anguish is summed up in a single sentence: “For my mother the act of living her was in itself an act of love, my mother had given up her own life out of love for me … ”

All in all, there’s some riveting writing and the basic story is pretty good. However, I put this down feeling as though Bates just wanted to finish …

For those seeking a Chinese diaspora novel, I would recommend Jen Gish’s The Love Wife instead, which was truly amazing and one of Gish’s best.