From the bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation, a novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing. Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York’s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (America-born Chinese), Charlie’s entire world has … Chinese), Charlie’s entire world has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works—miserably—as a dishwasher.
But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie’s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed—something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds—Eastern and Western, old world and new—to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.
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I practically read this in one sitting. It’s that much of a page turner. I love books that give me a glimpse into another culture, right along with a heroine I care deeply about. I hated for this one to end.
Enjoyed this book so much. Loved the lead character.
I have to admit that it’s a Cinderella story and not entirely believable from that perspective. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it, and it offers an important reminder that not all Asian immigrants in the US are successful and prosperous. It counters the “model minority” myth.
The book explores the alienation of immigrants and the struggles they face to integrate in the American culture. The main character is charming and wise, and brave, and she brings out the best in those around her.
Loosely based on the life of the author, this book begins with Charlie, who works as a dishwasher in Chinatown to help support her father, a noodle maker, and younger sister. Her mother, a dancer, died some some years previously. She hates her job and applies for a receptionist position at a dance studio. The story rhythmically shuffles between eastern and western cultures where balance within the family is as important as the art of tai chi is to the balance of the mind and body. I loved the ballroom dance scenes! I loved the story and the characters! I loved how well the Eastern philosophy and beliefs were woven in. The Lao Tzu quotes, tai chi and qichong. The uncle with his Chinese medicine shop and his caterpillar soup! And who knew it was bad luck to eat Peking duck on birthdays!? Colorful characters, such as the godmother, the Vision of the Left Eye and the psychic, not to forget the younger sister. I selected a book for the ballroom dancing and found it enriching from beginning to end! The narrator was also outstanding.
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
Lao Tzu.
Good beach read
loved it she is a good writer.
Important insight into other cultures.
I have married into a Chinese family. This book full of American Chinese culture is engrossing. Loved it and loved the characters
I loved following the character and learned so much about dance
4.5 stars
A wonderful coming of age/rags to riches story with noodles, dumplings and ballroom dance. Charlie was born in America, but her parents immigrated from China and settled in New York’s Chinatown. After her other dies, Charlie works as a dishwasher in her father’s noodle ship to help support her younger sister, Lisa. When she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio and she is given the unexpected opportunity to teach dance, she finds she must make a choice between her family and the life she wants to lead.
One of her dance students says:
“Every change has a hello and a good-bye in it, you know? You always have to leave in order to go on to something new.”
This lovely novel is touching, sweet and delicious. Though the plot is predictable, I didn’t mind one bit.
This is another one of my cultural reads in my learning about the immigrant experience. I had read and liked Girl in Translation. This book too is about family, honor, tradition, seeking our dreams and what it means to love. There were surprising twists and some more predictable but ultimately a satisfying and compelling story.
A wonderful story, a family and their struggles between the Eastern and Western worlds of tradition while life throws them all in new directions….The difficulties are many with what becomes a push and pull to a place full of new and exciting opportunities, as well as a heartbreaking shift they will have to endure. This family makes its way to a new found existence, a blossoming of sorts, to where you feel the characters become a beautiful mix of whom they want to be and still carry the old world customs within their hearts, together.
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