Description: After the deaths of her husband and her best friend, sixty-eight-year-old Hattie Kong moves to a small New England town and is soon joined by others looking to start anew. What Hattie makes of the situation lies at the center of this penetrating novel.
Brief description:
Gish Jen is the author of six novels of fiction and science fiction, two story collections, and two works of nonfiction. Her honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Fulbright Foundation, as well as the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction and the Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her stories have been chosen five times for The Best American Short Stories anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories of the Century. She has also delivered the William E. Massey, Sr., Lectures in American Studies at Harvard University.
Review Quotes:
"Jen unwinds another expansive story of identity and acceptance, deploying voices that are as haunting and revealing as they are original...Jen's prose is unique, dense, and enthralling, and her characters are marvels of authenticity."
-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"