Author: Ellen Graf
Genre: Memoir, Standalone
Published: 2009
Personal Rating: 2.5/5 (eh)
Yearly Count: 47
From the book cover:
Ellen is forty-six, divorced, and having no luck with personal ads when her Chinese girlfriend comes up with a plan; she has a brother in China, Zhong-hua, who's lonely too. maybe they'd like each other? Taking a leap of faith that most of us wouldn't dare, Ellen travels to China to meet him. Though they speak only a few words of each other's language, there's an unspoken connection between them and they decide to marry.
What follows is a remarkably touching and humorous story of two people from completely different worlds trying to make a marriage work. Settling in at Ellen's ramshackle farmhouse in upstate New York, they quickly discover the cultural chasm that lies between them. Ellen and her teenage daughter decide to adopt a policy of nonjudgment as Zhong-hua lobbies to sell their refrigerator ("Just three people, no need"), serves them giant sea slugs for dinner, and brusquely nudges Ellen aside witout an "excuse me" ("Family no need these kind of words").
Zhong-hua is not the type to offer his wife impromptu smiles or hugs, but in bed at night he holds her tightly like she's "something long lost and precious that might not live until morning." The Natual Laws of Good Luck is an unusual and exquistitely written love story--one that will resonate with anyone who has ever contemplated with wonder the spaces that exist between us and those we care about.
I didn't find any warm fuzzies or even the hint of genuine passion here. Not to say that they didn't (don't) feel it, but the pages between the covers did not portray it to me. And, I didn't find any humor either. What I did find was a tangent-driven report of two lonely people who decided to make a life together.
I feel like Ellen compromised much more of herself in order to accommodate her Chinese man than he did for her. It's certainly her choice to do so, but it didn't make for a very enjoyable read. I'm not sure if Zhong-hua's lack of manners or insensitivity were apart of the Chinese culture or if they were just Zhong-hua himself, but they were peculiar to say the least. The best part was learning about Zhong-hua's experiences growing up under Mao.
I wish Ellen and Zhong-hua all my best as they continue to grow together.
I love your review even though this was another "eh" book for you. I hope you get out of the 2.5 books soon...I'm starting to get depressed!! LOL!! :)
ReplyDeleteHmm, sounds rather strange. Get yourself a good, old mystery/thriller to read. You need to get out of these 2's!
ReplyDeleteI can well imagine the cultural differences, and how things that are a 'natural' in one culture are not so in another.
ReplyDeleteInteresting nonetheless to read of your review of the book.
Not my cuppa!
ReplyDeleteStaci ~ You and me both!!! (I'm reading a fabulous thriller now!)
ReplyDeleteNicola ~ LOL See my comment to Staci above. :) Seriously, my reading diet needs thrillers with only a few others genres thrown in here and there.
Anil P ~ I agree. Thanks for commenting.
Les ~ Apparently not mine either.