An Empire of Women

Rating:
Summary: Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Review: This book had so much going for it, but I wanted it to be more than it was. The author's writing skills are magnificent. The relationships between the three generations as well as the two outside characters are complex. There is a lot of rich material here including Chinese thought and symbolism I especially found the grandmother's story and interior dialogue sequences compelling. The daughter and granddaughter never fully materialized for me even though there was a lot of dialogue and angst expressed by everyone, as if to spell out the meaning. I found some explanation for the characters' motivation but not entirely and not satisfying enough. I kept waiting for each "ah-ha" moment, and there were many, for it to all make sense, but it never did. Also, the injection of the little girl Alice into the family picture, while supposed to be the key to the family's deliverance, seemed gratuitous. All in all, this is a talented effort that ultimately does not deliver.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant beautiful writing, characterization falls short
Review: This book had so much going for it, but I wanted it to be more than it was. The author's writing skills are magnificent. The relationships between the three generations as well as the two outside characters are complex. There is a lot of rich material here including Chinese thought and symbolism I especially found the grandmother's story and interior dialogue sequences compelling. The daughter and granddaughter never fully materialized for me even though there was a lot of dialogue and angst expressed by everyone, as if to spell out the meaning. I found some explanation for the characters' motivation but not entirely and not satisfying enough. I kept waiting for each "ah-ha" moment, and there were many, for it to all make sense, but it never did. Also, the injection of the little girl Alice into the family picture, while supposed to be the key to the family's deliverance, seemed gratuitous. All in all, this is a talented effort that ultimately does not deliver.