Leftover in China

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.