Wendy Lee (1)

A family novel by a Chinese American woman about an immigrant widow and her adult children, each struggling alone to understand who they really are, even when it leads to a trip back to China.

Ling Tang and her husband had come to New York City where they met and married. He was a quiet man, unwilling to speak of his life in mainland China before he came to the United States. When he dies after over thirty years of marriage, his widow is able to maintain herself in their suburban home in New Jersey, but fells lonely and adrift. Both her children have lives of their own in New York City, and their ties with her are strained. Emily, the older child, is married and immersed in her career as an immigration lawyer. Her determination not to have children is creating a break from her husband. Michael is gay and was estranged from his stern father. He journeys back to Xining, in Qinghai Province, northwestern China to try to learn about his father.

Read more: http://wp.me/p24OK2-1oG… (mere)

Across the Green Ocean by Wendy Lee
This book was a bit more than what I thought. Loved all the detailed explicit descriptions of the scenery abroad and stateside along with what the characters were doing.
Starts out with the father dying and leaving a woman and her 2 kids, who are grown and don't live at home. Michael discovers letters written to the father and tracks down who he has to meet with in China to find out how they knew one another-as everything is forgiven the letter stated.
Emily is the grown and married daughter who works a lot of overtime and her pay shows for it although her spouse spends time making food for hours on end to please her. He wants kids and she never does, still.
Story goes back in time to how the parents met and their beliefs. Quite strong beliefs from the kids also come to the forefront and how they deal with them.
Love the mystery in this book but didn't expect the homosexual scenes to be so pronounced.
Liked what he discovers in China that helps him heal and helps him and others in the family move forward.
I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review… (mere)