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- Top reviews from the United States:
- This is a beautiful but sad story of a young girl's search for love. Nevertheless, the ending is a surprise, and it is actually not as bad as it could be, although it is not the unreservedly happy ending you wish for either.
- Mei Kwei is born to a Chinese family in Malaya before World War II. Unfortunately for her, her father suffered from being treated like a girl in his early years (a particularly painful experience given the Chinese culture's normal overwhelming preference for boys) and vowed that he will not have any girl children. So, when Mei Kwei is born, he refuses to acknowledge her at all. And later, when it looks as if he will relent for a moment, he looks more closely at her and notices that she has a tiny teardrop-shaped mole at the corner of her eye, which no one had noticed before, but which everyone takes for an omen of bad luck, and renews his rejection of her with even greater vehemence.
Mei Kwei spends the rest of her youth trying to gain her father's love. Failing that, she looks for love in a series of other, mostly older men.
Her mother is not very affectionate either, and her brother has a sort of love-hate relationship with her. Only her grandmother seems to love her, and when the grandmother dies, she is devastated.
Mei Kwei is both beautiful and intelligent, and for a while, she manages to work her way into attending a Christian school run by some Catholic nuns, but after her father takes against her education, he abruptly pulls her out of school, ending her education for good.
Shortly after this, Mei Kwei becomes of marriageable age. A rich old man from another town makes an offer for her, and eventually, a marriage is arranged. Mei Kwei has consented, hoping to get away from her family, while they are reveling in the gifts of money and jewels provided by the old man. But in the meantime, Mei Kwei is rescued from unsavory pursuers twice – once by the new priest of the church associated with the school she used to attend and once by the owner of one of the nicest Chinese restaurants in town. She falls madly in love with the priest who, of course, can't return her love in the way she wants. She also likes the young restaurant owner but isn't in love with him.
As chaos increases in the town, Mei Kwei breaks her engagement to the rich old man and becomes engaged to the restaurant owner instead. But the chaos in her own life is increasing as well, and things not only don't turn out quite as she hopes, but also not quite as we think they have. - Product details
- Publisher : Orion; First Edition (January 1, 1998)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0752810146
- ISBN-13 : 978-0752810140
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.1 x 1.18 x 9.21 inches
Tác giả:
CATHERINE LIM
