The Wongs describe themselves as a “half half” family, but the actual fractions are more complicated, given Carnegie’s Chinese heritage, his wife Blondie’s WASP background, and the various ethnic permutations of their adopted and biological children.
Into this new American family comes a volatile new member. Lanlan is Carnegie’s Mainland Chinese relative, a tough, surprisingly lovely survivor of the Cultural Revolution, who comes courtesy of Carnegie’s mother’s will. Is Lanlan a very good nanny, a heartless climber, or a posthumous gift from a formidable mother who never stopped wanting her son to marry a nice Chinese girl?
What happens as Carnegie and Blondie try to incorporate the ambiguous new arrival into their already complicated family is touchingly, brilliantly, intricately told. Rich in insight, buoyed by humor, The Love Wife is a witty, sharp-eyed, compassionate, and a hugely satisfying work.
“A big story about families and identity and race and the American Dream. . . Jen’s most ambitious and emotionally ample work yet.”
“The Love Wife shares all the wonderful attributes of Jen’s other books but is deeper, richer, darker, far more complex and mature. . . by far the most satisfying and enjoyable novel I have read this year.”
“It’s hard to find a novel that seems, at once, so funny and so touching that one really is dumbstruck with admiration…I read the book in three sittings and plan to start it all over again soon…”
“Gish Jen’s characters are so alive that one can hardly call them ‘characters’… Here is a novel so insightful, so satisfying, that it ought never to have ended.””