Customer Reviews

Repeat After Me: A Novel

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"Repeat After Me" is so insightful and original - the characters are both funny and heartbreaking. I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards.

I love Rachel DeWoskin! Her memoir about living in China (FOREIGN BABES IN BEIJING) and becoming a soap opera star there is one of my favorite books to give as a gift because I know I can't go wrong with it. When I found out that she had a novel, I was thrilled and pre-ordered it right away. This book was definitely worth the wait. It was funny and beautifully written. I loved the intercultural romance story and that it takes place in both China and New York. I couldn't put this book down, and even though I tried to savor it as I got to the end, I read it in practically one sitting. I already gave away my copy to share the love, so now I'm going to have to order another one!

This is not an easy review to write, because I am still somewhat inside this book. A committed fan of Foreign Babes in Beijing, I was eager to see what author Rachel DeWoskin would do in fiction.

Repeat After Me is a brilliant book, one of the most compelling novels I have read in years. I am still inside the book because in reading I became so engaged with the central relationship that I have not fully digested the outcome. Not only could I not put the book down until I finished it, having finished it, I cannot quite put the story out of my mind.

Aysha, the young New York teacher of English as a Second Language tells her story in three different languages, her narrator's voice, broken but very expressive letters from her favorite Chinese student with whom she becomes involved. and subtle dialogs that cross linguistic, generational, and gender lines, not to mention boundaries of "normal" discourse. A complex and deeply moving story unfolds in the development and intersections of these narratives.

Although this book is about words, language, and communication, it is not at all a wordy book. DeWoskin is also a published poet, and the text reflects a poet's precision, economy, and depth. Precise language is natural for the narrator. Aysha is somewhat obsessive about words, obsessive beyond the normal occupational hazard of an English language teacher.

I barely finished reading the book when I found myself randomly rereading pages, discovering some of the foreshadowing that drives the story forward. A lot happens in Repeat After Me that is both inevitable and surprising. Each chapter is layered, telling stories in three different decades. It is clear that we are moving in and around the 1980s, 1990s, and current decade, but I felt the pieces fit together tightly like an embroidery. I never felt lost. I never looked for a map. I never lacked a clear view of where we were and why we were there. And I never lacked an ominous feeling of where we might be going. This is a story of two, or maybe three key people, three generations, two cultures and two countries, a story for the world we live in now. It is one of those rare works of fiction that abounds in crucial truths for our own lives. (Equally rare is that I will probably read it again, sooner rather than later. I guess that's my own kind of "repeat.")

Rachel Dewoskin brings the same eye for detail and ear for language to Repeat After Me that was on display in her fabulous memoir, Foreign Babes in Beijing. I tore through it in a day. I'll have to go back and re-read, but in the mean time I'm recommending it to all of my friends.

I've been eagerly awaiting this book since I read DeWoskin's memoir about the years she lived in China, and Repeat After Me did not disappoint. The writing, comedic timing, and poignancy are exquisite. I can't remember reading any other book that could make me laugh so hard and just as quickly bring me to tears. Anyone who is even vaguely interested in China or intercultural romance should read this.

The narrative thread of this delightful novel is so immediately engaging that I found myself tearing through chapter after chapter, unable to put it down. It moves backward and forward across a time gap of roughly thirteen years, yet it's never confusing. And it's not just narrative skill that drives the book. At the same time, Rachel DeWoskin's extraordinary use of language is so poetic and precise that I found myself doing something I've never done before when reading a novel. I made myself stop at the midpoint to go back and start again from the beginning, escaping from my initial plot focus to savor the amazing space between languages -- between English and Chinese -- that she creates. This is a magnificent piece of writing. Perhaps that's not surprising, given the wonderful wit and sympathy she displayed in her earlier non-fiction book Foreign Babes in Beijing. What a splendid writer she is, in both genres.

I love Repeat After Me and not just because I speak Chinese, studied in China in the late 90's, and seriously adored Foreign Babes in Beijing. I love it because DeWoskin shows so much restraint in her writing and has such a deep respect for her characters. This book crosses cultures, an ocean, and most importantly relationships. It speaks to the human condition and how we all struggle to understand our loved ones on a deep and intimate level and yet always seem to come up short. Repeat After Me is the kind of book where the characters truly come alive. I keep expecting to run into Aysha on the streets of New York. I also find myself wondering how a certain bilingual character (don't want to spoil anything here) is getting along in China and what the future holds for her. You pretty much know how this book is going to end from the very beginning, but the author's attention to detail and your involvement with the characters keeps you reading---even through the late night hours.

I must say I was unprepared for the complexity and intensity of the writing. DeWoskin has some very interesting points to make about life and love. Highly recommend it.

I picked up this book with trepidation and cautiously read the first page. I had heard nothing of this book or author but decided to keep reading. And I am so glad I did. This book was just so beautiful!

Since I do not like reviews that give away too much of the plot, I will only say that a woman in telling her story of when she met a Chinese man who emigrated to the US right after the tragedy in Tiananmen Square, and the relationship that was formed when she became his ESOL (English as a second language) teacher.

This novel takes you to China and back, and will also take your heart. I hope to hear more from this author in the future.

I loved DeWoskin's memoir "Foreign Babes in Beijing" but couldn't wait to read her first fictional work, and I was not disappointed. The story is both poignant and intense, and the reader can't help but feel deeply for all of the characters, each one flawed in one way or another that makes him or her seem familiar. DeWoskin has clearly poured out a part of her soul and it has manifested itself in this story.