Amanda D. reviewed on 9/18/2011

I had never read anything written by this author. I usually love reading books about Asian themes so I was excited to see it at my library. The dust jacket peaked my interest so I checked it out. I read the first chapter. I thought maybe it was just the introduction and that in the next chapter things would get better. The chapter seemed like a huge list of facts written about a group of women. It read like "Some of us did this. Some of us did that. One woman did this, one woman did that." The whole chapter. Next chapter: same thing. List after list of what "some of us" did. It's completely written in the plural. We felt this. We felt that. You don't get to know any of the characters. No names. Just one big list after another. I actually made it through almost half of the book, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. I also don't understand the title. It seems to have nothing to do with the actual "story". Maybe I didn't make it far enough into the book.

The surprising thing about this book (to me) is that you do get a description of things through the lists. I did get a picture of how it was to ride on the boat. I got a picture of the disappointment of the women when they saw their husbands. There is actually a story being told in a context. I got a picture of the settings in my head. So the author is clever in that regard. I think the book was well written, it just wasn't my style and it was not what I expected.

I think based on what other people have said, you will either love this book or hate it. I did not care for it. I thank my lucky stars that I didn't actually pay for it. I am a librarian and I would caution my patrons to read a few paragraphs before they checked it out.

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