My Lucky Face
Call it a "second-coming-of-age" story, in which a settled married woman reassesses and then restructures a previously unexamined life, finding liberty and then self-fulfillment as she leaves behind her familiar constraints. It's popular enough to be a subgenre, and this first novel by Chinese American author Chai is an interesting addition. Possessed of a good-fortune face, according to her imposing Auntie Gao, Lin Jun feels anything but fortunate despite her work, husband, and beloved son. A middle-school teacher in China, she befriends Cynthia, an American woman who has arrived to teach English at her school. Influenced by her formative years in the Cultural Revolution, by her new American friend, and by an awakening sense of self, Lin Jun feels awkward, stupid, and incapable yet dreams of leaving behind her unfulfilling marriage and creating a new life for herself. This novel reflects attitudes and experiences foreign to most Western readers in the context of a familiar, popular story. For substantial fiction collections.?Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., OhioCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.