Roseann Lake
My Chinese friend, one of the 剩女，asked me to bring her a copy of this book since I would be home for the summer. I ordered it on Amazon and read it before delivering.
Ms. Lake offers a window into the world of the 剩女 by sharing the stories of her Chinese friends, especially Christy, Ivy, Zhang Mei, and June. Christy is a successful, extroverted businesswoman and Beijing local. Ivy is an intelligent, beautiful mistress. Zhang Mei is a young, cute Chinese teacher from Harbin. June is a Yale graduate brave enough to fight her employer for unpaid overtime.
Most of my Chinese friends are probably like Zhang Mei: young, working relatively low-paying jobs, with out-of-town hu kou. It was odd to read the book and realize how similar my life was to the author's: living in China, making Chinese friends, learning about their lives. Maybe that's why I wasn't overly impressed by the book: because it's familiar, it's my life, it wasn't shocking to me. Yet it was a good reminder of what my Chinese friends face, the weight of the culture and families pushing them down. I hope it will give me more grace and patience for them.
One of the things I really appreciated about the book was the use of Chinese characters when appropriate, not just pinyin. There was also a lot of helpful research and history, numbers and a broader picture to help me contextualize and understand my experiences. It's also easy-to-read, my beloved accessible non-fiction written by a journalist with a sense of humor.
