Customer Reviews

Little Sister

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I am also mother to one Chinese daughter and waiting to adopt another. I'm also ethnically half-Chinese myself and currently living in China with my job. Based on existing reviews, I had hoped to really enjoy this book. (Here comes the big "However,"...)

There are so many spelling mistakes in this book that it was impossible to enjoy. Never mind Chinese words (for which the author uses at least three different romanization methods, with added spelling errors, eg. Tiananmen spelled "Tien'anman", Hsiao sometimes spelled "Hsaio" and Li Zuomin sometimes becoming Li "Zoumin") - readers who have not studied Chinese may be able to overlook these errors - but even in English there seemed to be a typo on every page! It doesn't even seem like this ever went through spell check, much less a human editor. The errors were so distracting, I hated this book before I was two chapters into it.

As for the story - I did finish it, I did want to know what happened to the characters, and I did cry. Yet it seemed to me that the author struggled trying to tell the story from a Chinese point of view; her descriptions are heavily tainted with Western observations. I would love to read a similar tale written by a Chinese author.

For parents with children from China (or adopted from anywhere), it is nice to imagine that our children were wanted by their birth parents and only abandoned out of absolute necessity. If you can stand the lack of any editing whatsoever, you may enjoy this book.

As a mom to daughters adopted from China, I have read many books about child abandonment and the politics surrounding these decisions which must be made. Wendy MacGown has successfully woven a story that puts forth a "what if" ... a realistic scenario of a plausible family caught in an impossible situation. She provides insight into the practical application of a difficult law ... and how it can tear apart the lives of so many people.

Wendy's descriptions of the life, work and attitudes of the characters are spot on. You can feel their reality. Her writing stirred up sense memories of my several trips to China, I could taste the food, smell the scents, and feel the crowds as I turned each page.

I highly recommend this book - along with some tissues.

I enjoyed the book thoroughly. I found myself wanting more...to find out what was going to happen. It brought out all asects of all emotions when I was reading... When are they going to make this into a movie?

This is the story of Wong Ying Fa, a young silk embroider who wants a man with whom she can have an intelligent conversation. She's pretty, bubbly and bright, yet projects the correct level of female subservience to attract the attention of her Party Boss, and his gorgeous nephew, Li Gwai Ha.
This book is the young couple's love story, as they are tested by a greedy uncle, who forces then to abandon their baby daughter (Mooi Mooi), and deal with the impact on their marriage and other family relationships. You will love Ying Fa, and mourn with her as events unfold.
Check out "Big Sister," the story of baby Mooi Mooi, now ten, and her adoptive family.