In What We Were Promised, the opening prologue includes the Zhen family leaving China to move to the United States. When life does not turn out the way they had expected financially, they return to Shanghai several years later.

Next, we meet Sunny, a housekeeper working in a lavish high rise apartment in Shanghai. Immediately apparent are the class differences as a result of her occupation, as well as her home background.

Years later, the Zhen family moves back to China, where their money goes further, and Lina, the wife, no longer has to work. They make their home in the fancy Lanson Suites in Shanghai where they hire a housekeeper and nanny companion for their teen daughter. The nanny they hire is Sunny.

Wei, the husband and father, begins to doubt his status as a marketing strategist and wishes he had chosen something more prestigious. At the same time, Lina is now lonely and bored without a job to keep her busy. Qiang, Wei’s brother, mysteriously comes to visit, and there is an uncomfortable feeling both from Wei and Lina, with Sunny observing it all. Qiang has been on the lam for years and is associated with some dark activity, which forces Wei and Lina to confront the past, as much as they have tried to bury it. This is a novel of family and explores topics such as the appropriateness of arranged marriage, the necessity of love in marriage, and money and its role in happiness.

Overall, I found What We Were Promised to be a thought-provoking and beautifully written novel about cultural and familial expectations, and how those same expectations can unknowingly shape our lives. It is also a parable on those who have it all versus those who must work hard in order to have, and of course the lesson of just who is happier.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars - I've been reading a lot of Asian-American themed and authored books lately, and this was an average one for me. Its themes include culture/tradition and family relationships. Nothing too spectacular.

3.75 stars rounded up!

"The Truth was more complicated than that. These objects of luxury they handled - how easy it was to fill them with meaning, to let them represent what you did or didn't have. How difficult, in fact, to know what you wanted in the first place."

This is the author's debut novel and it was beautifully written. This book dives into some deep rooted family issues that some cultures don't like to talk about.

As Children, Wei and Lina Zhen grew up in traditional Chinese-American homes. Their families were friends and when they were teenagers the families told them that one day, after college, that the two would marry. As custom goes, the two didn't interact very much up until that point. Instead Lina grew close to Wei's brother Qiang. They developed a very special bond which eventually turned into falling in love with each other. However, one day Qiang disappears, Wei gets an offer to go to America and due to the families agreements, Lina must go with him.

The Zhen's live in a luxury apartment complex in Shanghai. With this comes housekeeping as well as their ability to hire a nanny (ayi) to take care of their daughter and the family as a whole. One day, a bracelet was stolen from Lina and Sunny's friend Rose has been accused. There's a lot that comes from this bracelet being stolen. It brings up marriage issues between Wei and Lina and the ultimate reason it's devastating is because the bracelet was given to Lina from Qiang, her true love. Qiang shows up one day and secrets start to be revealed. You'll have to read to find out what they are!

This book is by no means a fast paced novel, however, it does explore a lot of family issues in the Chinese culture. It brings up the questions of, is arranged marriage still OK? Is it OK to use your children to pay off debts? What if the person you are married to isn't the person that you have truly always loved? Does your family get to dictate that? Does being rich make you happy if you aren't with the person you fell in love with?

At times this book was slow for me which is why it took me so long to finish it. I would pick it up and read it a little bit at a time. I think I was maybe looking for there to be some sort of twist which at the end there is a little one. I would recommend going into this book knowing it's not going to be a super light read and it's going to make you think. I had to reread parts of the book at time to make sure I understood what was happening.

Overall I think this debut was pretty good. I am interested to see what Lucy tan has coming up next.

Thank you to Little Brown and Company for my Advanced Review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Lucy Tan’s debut novel about a family living in present-day Shanghai. Wei, Lina and their teenage daughter Karen are a wealthy family living in a luxurious “serviced” apartment, that have recently moved from America to Shanghai. The story is told from their perspective, as well as that of their cleaner, Sunny. Through Sunny’s eyes we see this wealthy family that wants for nothing. Through Lina and Wei’s eyes, we see their past, their love for each other, and their challenges as a family.

I appreciated this close look at the marriage of two people who were promised to each other as babies in a small town in China. Their parents were close friends and as Wei and Lina grew up, both saw more and more to like in the other — until Lina became close to Wei’s adventurous younger brother Qiang. Qiang disappeared from Wei and Lina’s life the day they married, and he pops back into it many years later, when this book begins. The book slowly explores their friendship as young adults and Qiang’s difficult relationship with his brother and family.

It may be me, but this story of frustrated love was much less interesting than that of Wei and Lina’s quiet marriage, their careers, and their movement from one country to another and then back again. (I suppose because I’m about their age and have been married about that long.) I was really interested in Lina’s struggle with her own identity. As a young woman, she was educated and intelligent– she loved her parents deeply and wanted to please them but also wanted adventure and independence. As an expat in America, she worked hard as a teacher and a mother and wife. But now she’s the stereotypical wealthy wife who doesn’t know what to do with herself, who gets her maid fired when a bracelet goes missing. She’s full of contradictions and I appreciated that.

She could barely remember which career paths had excited her back then. Surely, it would have been easier to imagine a different outcome for herself at that age than it was now, when half her life had already been lived… “I feel as though anyone could have lived my life; it’s just me that happens to be here. Or in Copenhagen. Or in America.”

In a lot of ways, this book reminded me of Behold the Dreamers, because of its look at characters on both sides of a class divide who are mostly decent people. Both books look what it means to make a place home — or to feel like an outsider. I’ve never been to Shanghai but I felt like this book gave me a good idea what it was like, for the different groups living there.

While Sunny isn’t given as much time in this story, I really appreciated her perspective as a woman who is trying to make her own way in the world. Tan doesn’t just make her an observer of Lina, Wei and Qiang, but a character with her own story to tell.

The weakness of this thoughtful, well-written book is the love story itself, which seemed at times to lean too much on the trope of the successful older brother, the rebellious younger brother, and the girl who comes between them. That said, there was much that rings true about struggling to connect with an estranged family member, and the powerful memories of first love.

I had mixed feelings about the story Tan reveals at the end, because I thought she tried to sum it up in a way that felt a bit too neat. My preference is always for complexity and nuance, and fortunately she leaves this story with a good bit of that. I found myself rooting for all the characters in this complicated story.

According to Goodreads, author Lucy Tan grew up in the United States but has spent much of her adult life in Shanghai; she spent two years in Shanghai living with her parents in a serviced apartment. This is her debut novel.

Note: I received a complimentary review copy of this novel from NetGalley and publisher Little, Brown and Co. The book published July 10, 2018.

4.25 Stars* (rounded down)

Culture, Tradition and Family Ties. That is the story of “What We Were Promised.”

The transition of moving from the United States to Shanghai is a difficult one for the Zhen family. Lina was a School Teacher and is now a “Tai Tai,” a wealthy housewife, who need not work. Her husband Wei, is a successful Marketing Strategist. They live in Lanson Suites and have a Housekeeper and an AYI (a nanny/companion), named Sunny, - for their pre-teen daughter. Life is good. Then their quiet existence is disrupted when Wei’s brother, Qiang, who no one has seen or heard from in over 20 years calls to say that he is planning to come visit. Both Lina and Wei have deep feelings about Qiang’s visit, though neither have shared theirs with the other. Sunny, their AYI, however sees all.

Why is Qiang visiting after all of this time? How will it impact the Zhen’s? Will it tear them apart or bring them closer together?

The ties that bind are oh so complicated, especially when different cultures and traditions are involved. Told in two different timelines with multiple narrators, “What We Were Promised” is a story about culture and circumstance and its impact on a family who shows their love for each other in different ways. Lucy Tan, expertly evokes the emotions of the characters and delves into the past of each individual quite well. When Lina, Qiang, Wei and Sunny ached, so did I.

“What We Were Promised” is a beautifully written novel which touched me in ways I can’t explain. Though I wished for a different ending, I was impressed with the way the author brought the storyline together.

Thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown and Company and Lucy Tan for a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley, Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 7.23.18.

This was a slow burn of a novel, that centered mostly on each character's internal life and struggles. The missing bracelet at the beginning of the novel had me intrigued. Was it truly missing? Was it an attempt to replace the maid, or does it have value? What kind of value? The hint of a secret between Lina and her brother in law Qiang is also hinted at in the very first pages. Then the bulk of the book delves into the past and the lives led by each of the characters up until the present day, full of immersive detail while examining contrasting themes of those with money and power, and those without. Who has more freedom or happiness, really?
The narrative lingered a bit longer than I would have liked with expats Lina and Wei's history, ostensibly the main characters. I found Sunny the maid's story much more interesting, and would have liked to spend more time with her and Little Cao, the Zhen's surprisingly multifaceted driver. Perhaps because she was the working class observer, the more relatable character in the beginning. Though, overall, I was impressed with Tan's ability to create an entire cast of characters that I was rooting for, major flaws and all. The various relationship dynamics were very compelling, even some of the briefest interactions were the most impactful, as with the tenuous father daughter connection between Karen and Wei.
"Why do our minds fixate on the kinds of love we're not getting instead of the kinds of love we are? We expect it to be the thing we want it to be. And we're blind to every other form of it."
In the end, the secrets and realizations that are made gave it a highly satisfying ending with a lot of food for thought about family, loyalty, freedom and finding a place in the world. I would highly recommend this as a read alike for another summer debut, A Place for Us with very similar themes on family, choices and culture.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the complimentary digital review copy!

Loved this book! Will be reviewing for the BuzzFeed Books newsletter, and considering for end of year lists.

I found this novel to be similar to so many others about immigration today. The slightly different take of a family's return to China held promise, but I couldn't get interested enough to complete reading the book.

I couldn't believe this book was Lucy's debut novel!! I enjoyed every word. She wove Shanghai history into this historical fiction brilliantly!! I can't wait to read her next book!!

To repay a debt, Lina was promised in marriage to Wei. For an American, I was mentally prepared for this book to take place last century, but it wasn't. Actions by individuals and the Chinese government during the Cultural Revolution placed Lina's father in debt to Wei's father. Lina we the repayment for that favor. Other than this culturally based foundation for their relationship, this story could have read like almost any other family saga. But through the course of the book, Ms. Tan reveals the hidden cracks in their relationship and household and wonder if this is a similar situation for many modern Chinese wealthy families. I enjoyed how the narration shifted to give the reader the full perspective while the characters themselves struggled through situations. I look forward to seeing what Ms. Tan chooses to write about next.

What We Were Promised is both a look at life in modern day China and an observation on the unchanging nature of humanity. “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” John Donne told us. This book shows that as a universal truth.

After years of going to college and then working in America, the small Zhen family of Wei, Lina and Karen have moved back to China. Wei is a success story, having acquired wealth and status far beyond what was available in the small village in which he was raised. A perfectionist who has excelled since early childhood at pretty much everything he has attempted, he is now able to house his family in a luxurious, full service apartment complex filled with other ex-pats: Chinese-born, Western-educated professionals who have returned to a new, thriving China.

Meanwhile, their housekeeper Sunny embodies the difficulties within her modern nation. She did not rise above her small village roots but was forced out of them by a family who had no place for an unmarried woman unwilling to give them grandchildren. She keeps a professional, courteous distance from the Zhens’ lives until she is invited to be the family ayi for the summer. As a nanny/cook/ and all-around errand girl, she sees first-hand the tensions that are slowly unraveling them. Boss Zhen is very good at his job but doesn’t like it. With her daughter spending the school year in America and with no work for her to do in the house, Lina has become a taitai, a rich woman whose only function is to look pretty, and gossip with friends. Daughter Karen has no real place in her home, since it is only her home for a few months of the year. Spoiled and lonely, she latches unto Sunny as a lifeline.

When Qiang, Wei’s long-lost brother, reconnects with the Zhens, he sets off a quiet chain of events which makes them question whether what they have has been worth the sacrifices they made to get it.

What attracted me to this story was the opportunity to read a novel set in modern China. The book certainly delivered on that aspect of the tale, providing a fascinating view of life in Shanghai from several different aspects. I also appreciated the in-depth looks the author affords us into the past, from the re-education camp to which Lina’s father was sent during the post revolution years, to the villages Wei and Sunny grew up in. I loved how the story encompasses changing attitudes toward family, marriage and tradition.  The author absolutely excells at her setting.

She also does a great job with her characters. I loved Sunny and Wei; I would also have enjoyed spending more time with Wei’s father, who seemed a very, very interesting character in his own right. All three are people who go above and beyond; who work hard and never quit trying to be their best selves. That kind of positive, vibrant spirit reflects, I think, the spirit of modern Shanghai and China itself. A desire to rise above the sorrows and challenges of the past and be better and stronger for the future. The symbiosis of the characters, culture and city in this arena is masterfully handled.

Sunny and Lina, as the primary women in the story, present deeply contrasting personalities and also, I think, reflect the difference between the past and present of the country. Lina, having had the same opportunities as Wei, doesn’t take advantage of them as much. She reminds me of the wives and concubines depicted in tales about ancient China, obsessed with the politics of the women’s quarters which is, in this case, her modern apartment complex. She is also obsessed with the past; with her father’s incarceration, her mother’s strange reactions to the Zhens and with Qiang.

Qiang’s character was perhaps the most difficult one for me to wrap my head around. When I heard his backstory, I almost felt sorry for him, but by then, I didn’t like him. There is a scene about midway through the book which shows he had a rather sadistic nature even in early childhood. He seems to have an innate cruelty, even though for the bulk of his life he has been treated with great kindness.

A line from Wei captured best what I think drove both Lina and Qiang:

Qiang and Lina were both entitled and had never doubted for a moment they’d be taken care of. They were the kinds of people who blamed others for the things that went wrong in their lives.

I thought that exemplified a lot of what the author was showing us in the book; the differing attitudes between those who seize opportunities and those who throw them away. How an obsession with what happened in the past, such as Qiang and Lina have, is different from a respect for it, which Wei has; and how that subtle difference can play out badly in real life.

The last line of the story is really intriguing and thought provoking as well.

These objects of luxury they handled – how easy it was to fill them with meaning, to let them represent what you did or didn’t have. How difficult, in fact, to know what you wanted in the first place.

We do imbue objects with no intrinsic value with far more worth than they should have, physically or emotionally. This story is about that, too; what we really want from life and what we will give to attain it.

What We Were Promised is a character-driven tale which reflects the heart and soul of a nation going through great changes. It’s a beautifully written, evocative and provocative narrative which shows that human nature is the same the world over, even when our lives look superficially different.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo

I find it hard to believe that is Lucy Tan’s debut novel. The story was interesting and complex enough that it held my attention, and I loved the author’s style of writing. It all fits together well.

Tan does a wonderful job of portraying a couple who were born and raised in China, lived in the United States for a number of years, and then moved back to China. The characterization was very good. Not only did I get to know the people in the book, I also felt as if I could feel what they were feeling. However, I didn’t really connect with any of the characters and didn’t really like them. The main characters are: Wei, the rich husband who works all the time and has pretty much lost touch with his family; Ling, his bored wife who can’t stop thinking about what could have been; Karen, their spoiled teenaged daughter who is home from her American school for the summer; Sunny, their maid/ nanny for Karen; Rose, the maid who is irritated by the fact that she has to work hard while the rich are idle; and Qiong, Wei’s bad boy brother whom Ling cared a lot for and who vanished for twenty years when she married his brother. (That sounds a little more soap-opera-ish than it actually is.) A good bit of the book is taken up by Ling’s feelings for Qiong.

I was very impressed also by the fact that by the halfway point the author didn’t resort to sex or bad language, but then she threw some in. There is a sex scene, and for some odd reason, one of the people uncharacteristically used a word that dishonored God. These things were so unnecessary. I ‘m also not sure what the title has to do with the book.

3.5ish stars, rounded up. This book was really excellent when it was telling the story about Lina, Wei, and Qiang and their connection and lives growing up. The story really took its time revealing the secrets between the adults, and when the ultimate story is dropped, it was worth the wait. The last quarter of so of the book, in general, is worth the wait that it takes to get there. There is a great sense of anticipation as it's unclear exactly what transpired between the three adults to bring them where they are now. At times though, it was hard to invest in their current situation, and one storyline I would have loved to hear more about was Wei and the television show. A really solid, interesting debut!

What We Were Promised is the story of Chinese-born couple that builds a life in America and then returns to Shanghai. The expat community has always fascinated me, but this story is much more complicated and goes beyond surface level. Tan writes so that her readers become deeply invested in the characters. It reminded me of Pachinko or The Art of Hearing Heartbeats.

3.5. I wanted/hoped for more. I may eventually reconsider and round up, but...

I typically love/look forward to this genre. But I felt it was somewhat disjointed and choppy. I wanted more of some stories, less of others. When it was good, it was excellent. But it often felt flat. Nonetheless, well-written [no prose had me cringing] and certainly impressive for a debut novel

The setting--a back and forth --beginning outside Shanghai, 1988, and then moving to 2010.

"From a silk-producing village in rural China, up the corporate ladder in suburban America, and back again to the post-Maoist nouveau riche of modern Shanghai."

"After years of chasing the American dream, the Zhen family has moved back to China. Settling into a luxurious serviced apartment in Shanghai, Wei, Lina and their daughter, Karen, join an elite community of Chinese-born, Western-educated professionals ..." "... Lina, lonely in her new life of leisure, assumes the modern moniker tai tai-a housewife who does no housework at all. She spends her days haunted by the circumstances surrounding her arranged marriage to Wei and her lingering feelings for his brother, Qiang." And lastly, "...Sunny [housekeeper, then ayi], a hardworking woman with secrets of her own, bears witness to their struggles." And so, the disconnect begins.

The descriptions of how the Zhen family did or didn't fit in are wonderful and shed a light on that community. I liked the time spent with Wei, more than that with Lina [for the most part]. And I particularly liked Sunny and felt her well drawn [I wanted more].

Many humorous phrases had me chuckling.

"...when she tried on makeup, her face looked like a territory under siege."

misunderstanding the Pledge of Allegiance-- ""...to the republic of witches' hands..."

a "circular conversationalist"

"...silver serving trays with lids like astronaut helmets..."

"...she watched the Zhens navigate conversations as they would a minefield."

and the whole section on Wei helping Karen navigate using a tampon when she got her period for the first time. [Consider: "There was also somtheing seedy about contoured tip and finger grip."

But there is much seriousness--all well done. The description of Sunny's life. The story of Lina's father's reeducation [because of the Cultural Revolution]. Sometimes this back and forth seemed too choppy.

The many details of the various characters' lives provide a realistic glimpse into that community. The observations of life--politics, progress, differences between their lives in the US and then when returned to China--their privilieges, seemingly silly dilemmas--all vividly portrayed.

One particular [minor] issue for me was Karen, the daughter--she seemed older than a preteen.

So, a cautious recommendation.

I've been fascinated with Chinese culture ever since I was in college and went on Semester at Sea my junior year. I love everything about it including the rich history and struggles so I was excited to read this novel. At first I had trouble getting into it though as there is so much backstory given to bring the reader up to speed with Lina and her family's present. But then as present and past are interwoven, it becomes clearer and more engaging as we have the Zhen family and Sunny as their housekeeper/nanny. We see the two different worlds of the affluent and the subservient, and later when her brother-in-law comes to visit we witness the buried secrets that have long plagued Lina as her worlds collide. Rich prose and nuanced language make this novel a very satisfying read that will resonate long after you have finished!

This isn't the type of book I enjoy, but I think it would have great appeal for the 20-30 age readers. It was a little interesting to read about modern China and the issues that expats have.

Fang Lijian’s perspective on love was different from any she’d heard before. Lina’s friends had watched too many American movies and to them, love was a classic car that would come roaring in from nowhere when the time was right, pick you up, and peel away. For all their warnings to her about relinquishing control marrying a man she didn’t know, they seemed to crave the kind of love that made you lose control.

The Zhen family returns to China after chasing the “American Dream’, which didn’t quite pan out the way they, and their elders, had expected. Wei didn’t rocket to the success he and his father imagine, bringing greatness to his Chinese roots. His wife Lina isn’t proud of her days spent as a taitai, a housewife who doesn’t have anything to occupy herself with. When Lina’s tanzanite bracelet from Africa (the only remaining keepsake of her early love) disappears, Lina isn’t sure if the old maid stole it or not. Sunny is surprised when the Zhen family asks her to work for them as an ayi, to help with shopping, cooking and to Lina’s mind to have someone to distract their daughter when Wei’s brother Qiang visits.

Lina feels a restlessness in her heart, a longing for a past that’s long dead and the life she had imagined, that never breathed life. There was a time when she readied herself to be a dutiful daughter and wife, have many children and live with her in-laws in the village. All of that was obliterated with the reality of moving the America. Qiang and Lian had a moment, though he was the ‘bad’ son. Where Wei was a son to make any Chinese parent proud, Qiang was always in trouble, living in his honorable brother’s shadow. Lina was groomed for marriage to Wei, who would surely make her life one of security, comfort. In her mind she would live out her life in the village, a dutiful wife and daughter-in-law, and never imagined she would one day be teaching Chinese to American children in the United States of America, only to return with nothing to do living in a tower. Why is she now, after so many years, mooning over the past knowing that her feelings for Qiang belong to a different time, a different Lina. Is it boredom, is it Qiang’s plan to visit?

Wei isn’t sure how to feel about seeing his brother again, who disappeared without a word, breaking their parents hearts. Shocked to learn that he is even still alive, and angered that he chose not to see their parents sets off a riot of conflicting emotions. It is with suspicion he opens his home to the bad seed. Surely, he must still be running around with criminals, gangsters? Just why does Qiang want to be a part of his family again? Where has he been all these years? Upon his arrival, Qiang seems filled with resentment towards his brother, and in Wei’s mind, comes off as wanting to shame him for not reaching the greatness their father was adamant be his. Who knows better than Qiang what golden future was set for his brother Wei? Lina longs for her moment to find why he chose to abandon them all, especially her. Sunny is witness to everything that happens within’ the Zhen household. She has gone from being ‘under the suspicion of theft’ to working as an ayi. She has her own story to tell, of her marriage and it’s demise, of the money she earns with her hard work and sends home to her family. Sunny has her own family shaming to tolerate, as a daughter is meant to carry on the line, have children, not earn money like some man. Yet, it feels good to earn money, to sustain oneself without a husband to have dodged the life she knew in her bones wasn’t meant for her.

This is a novel about cultural and family expectations, it is also how our lives take shape based on unexpected choices others make for us. It is finally getting the whole story, and feeling foolish for the time wasted wondering why. Too, it is about those who have everything, and those who work for them.

Publication Date: July 10, 2018

Little, Brown and Company

I really disliked this. Not even sure why I finished reading it.



Review copy provided by publisher.