Mambo in Chinatown
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, an inspiring novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into a more Western world.
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From the bestselling author of Girl in Translation, an inspiring novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into a more Western world.
Klappentext zu „Mambo in Chinatown “
From the bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation, an inspiring novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into a more Western world.Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (American-born Chinese), Charlie s entire life has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works miserably as a dishwasher.
But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds Eastern and Western, old world and new to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.
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***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected proof***Copyright © 2014 Jean Kwok
One
My name is Charlie Wong and I m the daughter of a dancer and a noodle-maker. My mother was once a star ballerina at the famed Beijing Dance Academy before she ran off to marry my father, the handsomest noodle-maker in Beijing or at least that s what she always called him before she died. Hand in hand, they escaped to America to start their family. Unfortunately, my mother s genes seemed to miss me altogether. I took after Pa, minus the good-looking part. And minus the manual dexterity as well: he never managed to pass his considerable noodle-making skills on to me, much as he tried. So at twenty-two years old I was instead working as a dishwasher at a restaurant in New York s Chinatown. Pa was their noodle master. Customers lined up at the back door to purchase packages of his uncooked noodles to take home.
Peering now through the window that connected the tiny dishwashing room to the kitchen, I could see Mrs. Lee standing by the back door. She d put on extra lipstick for Pa, and she fixed her eyes on his brown hands wrapped around the bamboo pole.
Can you make them extra long for me? she asked in Mandarin. She stood a bit stiffly, careful not to brush against the grease-covered doorframe.
Pa nodded as he hoisted the bamboo pole and lowered it once again onto the dough on the table. The end of the pole f it into a hole punched in the wall, just above the table surface. As he rolled the pole, the dough became thinner on every pass. It was hard work. I knew his hands were ridged with calluses. Then he sliced the dough into perfectly regular strands with his cleaver, and began pulling them by hand. He twirled them into a rope, then stretched them again and again. It was like magic.
He looked up to f lash Mrs. Lee a smile. Must be your birthday.
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She actually giggled, a woman of her age. You are an intelligent man.
I would have snorted, only the waiters pushed another plastic bus tub filled with stacks of bowls through the other window at that moment, the one connecting the dish room to the restaurant. Everybody knew it was good luck to have long noodles on your birthday since they symbolized long life, just as most of us in Chinatown remembered Mrs. Lee s husband had passed on a number of years ago. I dumped the food off the dishes, then piled everything in another tub. I was used to women complimenting Pa but if you re trying to catch him for your own, good luck, lady. Pa hadn t dated since Ma died and probably never would; he was still in love with her. I hefted the heavy tub with ease, then hauled it over to the washing sink. I d been working this job for years, ever since leaving high school, and I had the biceps to prove it. I ducked my head to look through the window again and see what Mrs. Lee was up to. I caught a whiff of ginger and garlic that one of the cooks had just dropped into a wok.
Pa had given the ends of the dough to his assistant and they d stretched the noodles across the room while the other cook dodged them. Mrs. Lee beamed as Pa rolled up the finished noodles for her.
You should join us. I promise the noodles will be tender, she said.
Pa gave her an old-fashioned bow from the waist as he handed her package to her. You are very kind but I am so busy taking care of my two daughters. You know how it is.
Of course, she said. Her bright lips drooped at the corners. Next time, then.
Yes, I wish you long life and happiness, said Pa, turning back to his assistant. Get me a sack of flour from the basement, will you?
I should have been the one helping him. Pa had brought me to the restaurant to watch and train
She actually giggled, a woman of her age. You are an intelligent man.
I would have snorted, only the waiters pushed another plastic bus tub filled with stacks of bowls through the other window at that moment, the one connecting the dish room to the restaurant. Everybody knew it was good luck to have long noodles on your birthday since they symbolized long life, just as most of us in Chinatown remembered Mrs. Lee s husband had passed on a number of years ago. I dumped the food off the dishes, then piled everything in another tub. I was used to women complimenting Pa but if you re trying to catch him for your own, good luck, lady. Pa hadn t dated since Ma died and probably never would; he was still in love with her. I hefted the heavy tub with ease, then hauled it over to the washing sink. I d been working this job for years, ever since leaving high school, and I had the biceps to prove it. I ducked my head to look through the window again and see what Mrs. Lee was up to. I caught a whiff of ginger and garlic that one of the cooks had just dropped into a wok.
Pa had given the ends of the dough to his assistant and they d stretched the noodles across the room while the other cook dodged them. Mrs. Lee beamed as Pa rolled up the finished noodles for her.
You should join us. I promise the noodles will be tender, she said.
Pa gave her an old-fashioned bow from the waist as he handed her package to her. You are very kind but I am so busy taking care of my two daughters. You know how it is.
Of course, she said. Her bright lips drooped at the corners. Next time, then.
Yes, I wish you long life and happiness, said Pa, turning back to his assistant. Get me a sack of flour from the basement, will you?
I should have been the one helping him. Pa had brought me to the restaurant to watch and train
... weniger
Autoren-Porträt von Jean Kwok
Jean Kwok wurde als jüngstes von sieben Kindern in Hongkong geboren. Ihre Familie emigrierte nach Brooklyn, wo Jean lange Zeit in einem Sweatshop in Chinatown arbeitete. Sie wurde frühzeitig an der Harvard Universität angenommen und übernahm dort meistens vier Jobs gleichzeitig, um ihre Familie zu unterstützen und ihr Studium zu finanzieren. Heute lebt Jean Kwok mit ihrem Mann und zwei Söhnen in den Niederlanden.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Jean Kwok
- 2015, 448 Seiten, Masse: 13,1 x 20,5 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Riverhead Books
- ISBN-10: 1594633800
- ISBN-13: 9781594633805
- Erscheinungsdatum: 15.07.2015
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
"Western convention clashes with traditional Eastern culture when a young, impoverished Chinese-American woman dips her toe into the glittering world of professional ballroom dancing and finds love." Woman s Day "Rarely has [this story] been told with such grace, lightness and humor as in this delightful novel by the author of the best-selling Girl in Translation (2010)." Chicago Tribune
"Best Books of 2014: One of This Summer s Hottest Page-Turners. A riveting story about a young woman who ultimately finds her calling and manages to exceed everyone's expectations - including, most important, her own." Real Simple
"A young woman who finds herself through ballroom dancing must make peace with her old life in New York's Chinatown. Charming." USA Today
Dreams Take Flight in Jean Kwok s Mambo in Chinatown a great story of cultural conflict and reaching for your dreams. Boston Herald
Mambo in Chinatown has a propulsive narrative drive and tells an often compelling tale of East-West conflict, adaptation, and assimilation...[readers] will keep turning the pages. Boston Globe
Like a ballroom dance itself: captivating and sure-footed, and hard to look up from. Kwok draws from her own experience working in Chinatown in her youth, eventually becoming a ballroom dancer and taking to the floor with confidence. Kwok brings to the page all the detail and fluidity that one would expect of a seasoned dancer and writer. Bustle
Kwok is at her best when exploring and smudging such differences involving culture or class which in turn suggests that any of us really could become whomever we want to be. Journal Sentinel
Editors Picks: Excited for Jean Kwok s Mambo in Chinatown. The story is akin to that in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie s Americanah, one of my favorite novels from
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2013, in that the main character is torn between two cultures and is unsure of her place in either. Library Journal
"The kind of book where I put it down, closed my eyes, and the characters were still dancing in my mind. Sweet and lovely, filled with old-world tradition, Chinese superstition, and the complicated dance of forbidden love." Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Songs of Willow Frost
Although the characters are fictional, their personal struggles and emotions are based upon authentic experiences, which make them unforgettable.
Sing Tao (largest and oldest Chinese newspaper in the US)
"In her winning second novel (after Girl in Translation, 2010), Kwok infuses her heartwarming story with both the sensuality of dance and the optimism of a young woman coming into her own. Booklist
"Kwok has created a charming heroine into whose dance shoes readers can easily step. Charlie faces many of the same dilemmas that plague modern young women: balancing the demands of family and career without sacrificing too much of either, choosing whether or not to pursue love when it may mean giving up a fulfilling work life. Kwok has a gift for conveying the passion and sensuality of ballroom dancing in her energetic prose." Shelf Awareness
Best Books Read in June: Kwok does an exceptional job of rendering this lesser-visited part of America in a way that s reverent toward both sides of the story The sister relationship between Charlie and Lisa, who is much younger than her, was my favorite part of the story though the love they have for one another and the pain and grief they endure together is vivid. Book Riot
"An engrossing cross-cultural coming-of-age tale." Largehearted Boy
It s hard to improve on the Cinderella theme, but Jean Kwok manages to do just that. Book Reporter
"From Kwok (Girl in Translation, 2010), another story about a plucky young Chinese-American woman whose hard work transports her out of poverty and hidebound traditions to find love and success... Charlie's Cinderella story, not to mention Charlie herself, is charming. Kirkus
"The kind of book where I put it down, closed my eyes, and the characters were still dancing in my mind. Sweet and lovely, filled with old-world tradition, Chinese superstition, and the complicated dance of forbidden love." Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Songs of Willow Frost
Although the characters are fictional, their personal struggles and emotions are based upon authentic experiences, which make them unforgettable.
Sing Tao (largest and oldest Chinese newspaper in the US)
"In her winning second novel (after Girl in Translation, 2010), Kwok infuses her heartwarming story with both the sensuality of dance and the optimism of a young woman coming into her own. Booklist
"Kwok has created a charming heroine into whose dance shoes readers can easily step. Charlie faces many of the same dilemmas that plague modern young women: balancing the demands of family and career without sacrificing too much of either, choosing whether or not to pursue love when it may mean giving up a fulfilling work life. Kwok has a gift for conveying the passion and sensuality of ballroom dancing in her energetic prose." Shelf Awareness
Best Books Read in June: Kwok does an exceptional job of rendering this lesser-visited part of America in a way that s reverent toward both sides of the story The sister relationship between Charlie and Lisa, who is much younger than her, was my favorite part of the story though the love they have for one another and the pain and grief they endure together is vivid. Book Riot
"An engrossing cross-cultural coming-of-age tale." Largehearted Boy
It s hard to improve on the Cinderella theme, but Jean Kwok manages to do just that. Book Reporter
"From Kwok (Girl in Translation, 2010), another story about a plucky young Chinese-American woman whose hard work transports her out of poverty and hidebound traditions to find love and success... Charlie's Cinderella story, not to mention Charlie herself, is charming. Kirkus
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