Happy Family

By Wendy Lee

Book Overview

When Hua Wu arrives in New York City, her life seems destined to resemble that of countless immigrants before her. She spends her hectic days in a restaurant in Chinatown, and her lonesome nights in a noisy, crowded tenement, yearning for those she left behind. But one day in a park in the West Village, Hua meets Jane Templeton and her daughter, Lily, a two-year-old adopted from China. Eager to expose Lily to the language and culture of her birth country, Jane hires Hua to be her nanny. Hua soon finds herself in a world far removed from the cramped streets of Chinatown or her grandmother's home in Fuzhou, China. Jane, a museum curator of Asian art, and her husband, a theater critic, are cultured and successful. They pull Hua into their circle of family and friends until she is deeply attached to Lily and their way of life. But when cracks show in the family's perfect fa ade, what will Hua do to protect the little girl who reminds her so much of her own past? A beautiful and revelatory novel, Happy Family is the promising debut of a perceptive and graceful writer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802170463
• ISBN13: 9780802170460
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Interesting and well-written book

I thought this was a really interesting story with well-developed characters. I liked Hua because she wasn't depicted as being perfect like some books do with their main character. The author was able to create the feeling of loneliness that Hua felt and the desperation and sadness that drove her to do what she did. Overall, I thought it was an excellent book and I recommend it.

A Quiet, Affecting Story

Wendy Lee's novel about a Chinese immigrant's complex relationship with an adopted Chinese orphan in NYC and her Caucasian parents is a quiet, affecting account of alienation, loss and memory. Because of its premise, readers may think the book is about international adoption, but Happy Family is really about Hua, the narrator of the book. As a recent immigrant from China who goes from working in a restaurant to working as a nanny for an adopted Chinese girl, Lily, in a privileged (though disintegrating) American home, Hua takes us through her strange present and her familiar, but painful past in China and helps us experience New York City through her eyes. Her voice (and Lee's) is spare, observant, humorous and emotional. By using a unique premise, Lee does a great job of leading you into a complicated life that leaves you wondering what you would have done if you were Hua.

Great book

I picked up this book thinking I would be reading a sweet little novel about an adopted Chinese baby and how she fits into her new life. Instead, I found myself in the middle of a domestic drama where things are not as simple as they seem. The story is told from Hua's point of view - a recent Chinese immigrant who is hired as the child's nanny. This is a subject few writers have tackled. The author deserves kudos for taking this on. As Hua explores New York City, I felt as if I was rediscovering the city along with her. Hua's opinions are not always kind, not always right (as far as this reader is concerned), at times, she seems too judgemental--this makes her all the more compelling. It was refreshing to read a story from the point of view of a recent immigrant.

Gem!

If you've managed to find this book, your search will be richly rewarded. Wendy Lee has written a true gemstone of a novel: well-crafted, populated by authentic characters and rich multicultural settings, in a narrative arc that grips your interest from beginning to end. [full disclosure: I studied with Wendy Lee at NYU in 2004, and learned about this, her first book, through an e-mail announcement to alumni of NYU's MFA program] The story follows a young Chinese immigrant's first years in America, working first as a waittress in a New York City Chinatown restaurant, then as a nanny of an adopted Chinese daughter for a Manhattan couple. Despite the fact that Lee apparently gives away the ending in the book's prologue, the power of the story keeps you wondering and hoping right through the final page. The best, most resonant literature works because the characters' lives reflect the core human questions everyone faces: identity, choice, destiny. In this regard, Lee's "Happy Family" is as good as you can find. Read this book, and keep Wendy Lee's name on your short list of authors to watch. -Rob