Living abroad can be both exciting and challenging.  Dealing with a new culture and language, and more importantly finding a place of your own in the constantly changing landscape of the expatriate community can be difficult.

Mercy, a recent graduate from Columbia University came to Hong Kong hoping it might be  be just the thing to restart a career that had led nowhere.  Maybe in Hong Kong, she thought she could find a place where she could excel and thrive in a way that she had been unable to do at home. But things did not go as planned and soon after her arrival a terrible incident occurred and it seemed as if the bad luck she had experienced in the US has followed her to Hong Kong, only this time with devastating consequences.

Hillary, followed her husband to Hong Kong when he was transferred there. She was used to having status and wealth since she came from a wealthy family and has thrived in Hong Kong with its expectations of having daily help and drivers and all the other extra perks that come to executives and their families who live overseas. Although she has become one of the leaders of the expat community, Hillary feels like there is something missing in their lives and wants to have a child, which she believes might just save her marriage.

Margaret, a mother of three, had immersed herself in the joys and messiness of being a “mother.” She had been active in her children’s school and had created close bonds with the other mothers and their children. She had felt that living overseas was a wonderful experience for her family and had used their vacations to visit other countries in Asia and Europe in order to enrich their children’s lives. Her children and family were the center of her life. But now, after a shattering loss, she is questioning the very nature of motherhood and is just barely able to go through the motions of daily life.

Lee weaves the stories of these very disparate women into an extraordinary novel of overcoming tremendous loss and the natural inclination to blame others for our misfortunes, into a celebration of true friendship and the deep ties that bind women in inexplicable ways.  Lee’s writing is warm and descriptive, giving us a sense of what life is like in an expat community with it’s forced intimacy and competitiveness. The women are complicated, and although initially, Hillary especially seems shallow, Lee is able to tease out the real humanity and depth of character each woman must reach for in order to carry on with their lives. This is a rich and engaging book!

 Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 out of 5 Stars)  

Recommend this book to: Lauren, Marian, Sharon and Keith

Book Study Worthy: Yes

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