Just read:
Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal
Published March 7, 2023; William Morrow & Company
Genre: mystery thriller, fiction, Asia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The experiences of three Filipina domestic workers in Singapore in this novel are quite different.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The experiences of three Filipina domestic workers in Singapore in this novel are quite different.
Corazon works for a wealthy woman who treats her as a family member; Donita is abused physically and mentally by an overly demanding and insulting woman who aspires to rise in society; Angel likes her job as caretaker for a disabled man but is shunted aside when a nurse is hired in her place.
The novel was an eye opener on the varied conditions of Filipina domestic workers abroad, in this case in Singapore. The book is made even more interesting when the three workers get together to clear the name of one of their friends in the murder of her female employer.
The novel was an eye opener on the varied conditions of Filipina domestic workers abroad, in this case in Singapore. The book is made even more interesting when the three workers get together to clear the name of one of their friends in the murder of her female employer.
Revealing and informative as social commentary, and entertaining as a mystery novel, the book is interesting and important on many levels.
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong
Publication: May 16, 2023; Tin House Books
Genre: memoir, nonfiction, Asian American literature
I liked the poetic prose that Jane Wong, a poet and creative writer, uses for much of this memoir. She has a poet's acute and perceptive reaction to her life experiences.
I think of the book as a very personal memoir of her despair and agonies in growing up among those who don't understand or accept her - in school, university, in Atlantic City, where her parents ran a restaurant until her father deserted the family. Of having to field stereotyping, microaggressions, outright hostility, and more.
Her mother is the force that bolsters her as she goes through one heartbreak after another in her life and in her failed relationships with boyfriends. The author does not dwell as much on her rise as a poet and on her academic career as an associate professor of creative writing. But I recall betrayals on her road to that position as well.
In this very honest memoir, the heartache comes through, as does her remarkably resilient self, and her mother who sees Jane through all her responses of dejection and grief.
I was heartened to see that the author is a successful poet, writer, and teacher because of or in spite of all she went through.
I liked the poetic prose that Jane Wong, a poet and creative writer, uses for much of this memoir. She has a poet's acute and perceptive reaction to her life experiences.
I think of the book as a very personal memoir of her despair and agonies in growing up among those who don't understand or accept her - in school, university, in Atlantic City, where her parents ran a restaurant until her father deserted the family. Of having to field stereotyping, microaggressions, outright hostility, and more.
Her mother is the force that bolsters her as she goes through one heartbreak after another in her life and in her failed relationships with boyfriends. The author does not dwell as much on her rise as a poet and on her academic career as an associate professor of creative writing. But I recall betrayals on her road to that position as well.
In this very honest memoir, the heartache comes through, as does her remarkably resilient self, and her mother who sees Jane through all her responses of dejection and grief.
I was heartened to see that the author is a successful poet, writer, and teacher because of or in spite of all she went through.
What are you reading this week?
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted byThe Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday
