#BlogTour – #BookReview of #TheLeftoverWomam by @JeanKwok @ViperBooks @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours

calturner

Nov 15

I'm thrilled to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for moving thriller The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok. Thank you to Anne Cater and Viper Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this beautifully written and thought provoking book.

About the book:

.'I will find my daughter. No matter the cost...'

Jasmine Yang thought her daughter was dead at birth. But five years after she was taken from her arms, she learns that her controlling husband sent the baby to America to be adopted, a casualty of China's one-child-policy. Fleeing her rural Chinese village, Jasmine arrives in New York City with nothing except a desperate need to find her daughter. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she's forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her child.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardise not only Rebecca's job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble.

Two women in a divided city, separated by wealth and culture, yet bound together by their love for the same child. And when they finally meet, their lives will never be the same again...

About the author:

Jean Kwok is the international bestselling author of Girl in Translation, Mambo in Chinatown, and Searching for Sylvie Lee, which was a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick and an instant New York Times bestseller. Her work has been published in twenty countries and is taught in schools across the world.

She has been selected for numerous honors, including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. She immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five and worked in a Chinatown clothing factory for much of her childhood.

She received her bachelor's degree from Harvard University and earned an MFA from Columbia University. She currently lives in the Netherlands.

My Review:

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok is a powerful and thought provoking thriller that completely broke my heart. A stunning read, this is an emotional and atmospheric tale of love, loss and family that held me in its thrall from beginning to end.

Jasmine Yang was told that her daughter had died at birth. So when, five years later, she finds out her controlling husband had shipped the baby off to America to be adopted, she flees her rural Chinese village determined to travel to New York to find the daughter she thought she'd lost.

Meanwhile, in America, Rebecca Whitney has what appears to be the perfect life: married to a handsome husband, she has a successful career, a beautiful home and an adopted Chinese daughter who she adores. But all is not as it seems, so when a scandal threatens to jeopardise everything she holds dear, Rebecca's life begins to fall apart.

Jasmine and Rebecca are two very different women, separated by wealth and culture, who find themselves brought together by their love of the same child. But one thing is certain - once they finally meet, their lives will never be the same again…

What follows is a devastating and raw page turner of a read that had me on the edge of my seat throughout. It's difficult to describe just how beautifully written and emotive The Leftover Woman is, but I can honestly say that it shattered my heart into a million pieces and left me with a deep sense of loss as I turned the final page.

I don't want to give too much away, as this is a book that needs to be read and savoured, its secrets tantalisingly revealed little by little. With fascinatingly complex characters and a uniqueness to the narrative that ratchets the intrigue and suspense up to almost breaking point, the story heads towards an astonishing final denouement that took me completely by surprise.

The Leftover Woman is a thriller unlike any I have ever read before and is one that I would highly recommend. Jean Kwok's writing is stunning as she brings these characters and their story vividly to life, taking them on a journey of self discovery and loss that I know will stay with me for a long time to come.

A simply unforgettable read that is easily one of the most moving books I have read this year.

Highly recommended!

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok is available to buy now: