The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok is a fascinating story about Jasmine Yang and Rebecca Whitney who are from totally different backgrounds but have one special person in common.
Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her small rural Chinese village without money or support and fleeing her abusive husband, hoping to find her daughter who was given up for adoption without her knowledge.
Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all, a prestigious family name, wealth, a high powered career, a handsome intelligent husband and an adopted a Chinese daughter she adores.
How the two women meet and interact and finally how their shared love of a beloved child means, that eventually one woman will be responsible for the death of an abusive husband and how the other woman goes free.
Highly recommended

Wow, where do you start with a story like this? It was an absolute honour to be allowed to read 'The Leftover Woman' - and can we take a minute to appreciate the power of that title alone?

The story felt so personal and took me on a huge emotional journey. Both women's stories had their own hardships and challenges. It may seem at first that Rebecca has an easier time of it, but the pressures she deals with are just as real for her.

There are no winners in the story, just loss and heartbreak whichever way you turn. It addresses motherhood, family, loss and longing in so many different ways and Jasmine and Rebecca's stories stayed with me afterwards.

Jean Kwok handles her subject matter with great dignity and grace whilst never shying away from what is at the heart of the story. She writes compassionately and respectfully, but also constantly moving the story forward for all of the characters.

I haven't yet read other works by this author but she will definitely be on my radar now.

Jasmine starts life as an abandoned unwanted baby girl during the Chinese one child policy. Growing up did nothing to improve her life and as a teenage girl was sold to a controlling abusive husband .Facing adversity from every direction she flees to New York funded by loan sharks who will stop at nothing in their determination to recoup their outlay. Failure to secure stability leads to a job in a strip club in her struggles to survive. Rebecca meanwhile enjoys a luxurious lifestyle, demanding career and unfulfilled longing for a child. However the reality of motherhood does not reflect the struggles to balance an adopted child with a busy stressful life. Two women , one child , an abusive father determined to take by force that which belongs to him. A catalyst founded in the love, fear and racial differences of the two women drive the story toward a violent conclusion. Unusual premise for a storyline involving two women divided in every way possible facing a common enemy threatening their very existence. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is a well written, compelling story about motherhood and the great lengths women will go to when faced with exceptional circumstances.
Told from two points of view, Jasmine, an illegal Chinese immigrant to America, and Rebecca, a wealthy editor in chief at a top publishing house in New York.
The story unfolds slowly, weaving the two characters together in a complex plot. The characterization is superb and believable and the storytelling evocative. This is the first book I have read from this author and I will be searching out more in the future.
Highly recommended!

“In China, I’d seen posters warning girls of the danger of becoming leftover women, women that no one wanted …. unwanted, purposeless, of no use to anyone. I was a leftover woman, I realized.”

My thanks to Serpent’s Tail/Viper for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Leftover Woman’ by Jean Kwok.

This work of literary fiction follows the stories of two women from different cultures in New York City circa 2007, who are unknowingly connected by their love for a child.

Jasmine Yang had believed that her daughter was stillborn though five years later she discovered that her controlling husband had sent the baby to America for adoption. Jasmine flees her rural village and eventually arrives in New York City where she is determined to find her daughter. However, she owes a great deal of money to the snakeheads and has to find a way to not only pay them but to establish herself in this ‘beautiful country’ despite her undocumented status.

Rebecca Whitney has a privileged life with a high-powered career in publishing, a beautiful home, a handsome husband and an adopted Chinese daughter, whom she adores. Then an industry scandal threatens her career and her marriage begins to show signs of strain.

Of course, Fiona (aka Fifi), Rebecca’s adopted daughter, was the one taken so cruelly from Jasmine at birth. How these women, divided by wealth and culture yet bound by their love for the same child, come together is at the heart of this moving novel.

I was quickly caught up in Jasmine’s heartbreaking story. It took a little longer to relate to Rebecca as she was portrayed as a more remote character. I expect part of this is due to Kwok’s choice to write Jasmine’s chapters in the more intimate first person while Rebecca’s chapters are told in the third person, which created a greater sense of distance.

I was impressed throughout by Kwok’s storytelling and how well she utilised her settings from the high pressure offices of B&W, the publishing house founded by Rebecca’s father, and the seedy underground Asian strip bar where Jasmine finds work as a cocktail waitress.

Overall, I found ‘The Leftover Woman’ a thought provoking novel that was beautifully written and highlighted a variety of issues, including the heartbreak caused by China’s now defunct One Child policy and the exploitation of vulnerable women.

I feel that it is the kind of novel that will also appeal to reading groups with its combination of family drama, elements of suspense, the examination of culture and privilege, and the power of maternal love, whether through birth or adoption.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This book started with great premise and great promise however I felt it was repetitious and lacking depth in many places. It took me a long time to finish it because I wasn’t engaged with the characters. The American characters were stereotypes and the opportunity to get inside the Chinese characters’ minds wasn’t well explored. Sorry but there are better Chinese/American adoption based books I’ve read - for example The Red Thread by Ann Hood.

Jasmine is a Chinese immigrant living in New York. She arrived in America without the required visa papers – she’s paid the snakeheads to smuggle her into the US. As she owes them a lot of money, she is desperate for work, any kind of work where paperwork isn’t required.

She is also carrying a secret: her daughter, whom she thought to be dead, is living somewhere in New York. Jasmine will do anything in her power to find her child.

Rebecca is an editor -in-chief at the publishing house established by her late father. She is married to Brandon, a polyglot, and a university lecturer. Together, they have an adoptive Chinese daughter, Fifi. They also have a Chinese living-in nanny, Lucy.

The pressure to acquire a Pulitzer winning author will set Rebecca on edge. Furthermore, cracks start to appear in Rebecca and Brandon’s marriage.

As the lives of Jasmine and Rebecca collide, the two women will have to work together to save their daughter.

Wow! What a compelling read.

I was particularly enthralled by Lucy’s story, especially her life back in China. I was heartbroken to discover how young girls are illegally married at young age to much older men, and then often abused by their own husbands.

Both women had grit and determination to see them through their struggles. At the start I disliked Rebecca. I thought she was entitled, I didn’t like the fact that she wanted her daughter to be perfect: the bit where Fifi smeared dirt on her mother’s dress much to Rebecca’s annoyance, has really irked me. I was thinking that Fifi was just a child, and who brings their own child to a work party?!

However, as the book progressed, my feelings towards Rebecca changed. She has shown enormous love for her daughter and would do anything to protect her.

Overall, this is a story about mother’s love and how far we are willing to go to protect our loved ones.

Thanks to Viper Books and Rachel Quin for the NetGalley widget.

Jasmine, from a small village in China, is now in New York struggling to survive as an illegal immigrant while searching for her daughter who she believed died at birth, but who was taken by her husband and given up for adoption. With many debts to pay to the criminal organisations that got her into the US she treads a fine line in order to survive. Rebecca is a successful editor married to a handsome university professor, and with a seemingly perfect life made better by Fifi their Chinese adopted daughter. However, recent scandals within the publishing industry has shaken Rebecca’s seemingly perfect life. I loved this story and although it’s obvious very early that Fifi is the child that Jasmine is looking for the way in which the lives of Rebecca and Jasmine intertwine and develop is wonderful but be prepared for twists and surprises. The relationships between the characters are extremely well developed and the characters were well rounded. A book of loss and love, motherhood and family, but also of displacement and culture. I will definitely be looking for more from this author in the future. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the A.R. C of this novel in return for an honest review.

A great read. Being a casualty of the one-child policy in China, Jasmine manages to flee to America in search of her daughter. Her daughter was adopted by Rebecca and her husband, both career driven but adore their daughter.
This is a very cleverly written book, taking in the different cultures of both the woman. The story captures the reader from the beginning and the characters brought to life. I would highly recommend this book.

The Leftover Woman is described as a thriller and whilst I have to agree with that description this novel is so much more. I have never felt so emotional whilst reading a thriller before. Jasmine is a young woman who has travelled to ‘the beautiful country’ to try and find her daughter who was taken from her as a baby. The baby she had been led to believe had died. Living in fear of what might happen to her if she couldn’t pay the snakeheads who had got her into the country. Forced into working in a strip club she showed her determination to earn the money she needed without succumbing to alcohol and drugs like many she worked with did. I had a lot of liking for her, felt heartbreak at how she’d suffered under China’s one child ruling and hoped that she could stay safe from the snakeheads, her past and also find her daughter.
Rebecca is a business woman whose career is threatened by a scandal and a realisation that her family life isn’t as secure as she’d like it to be. She resents that her adopted daughter has a better relationship with her Chinese nanny, Lucy, than with her and fails to realise that putting her career first was causing more turmoil. She was a character I initially struggled with. I found her brittle, thoroughly disliked her treatment of Lucy but I did soften slightly the more I read.
Like many, I had heard of the one baby rule in China but to my shame had never considered that there would be families who would have gone through a turmoil like Jasmine did. Nor, do I really know any details about it. I’m now wanting to know more about the impact it had, whether there were families that it had a positive impact on and how long it went on for.
The novel is a short one, but it is one of those that I will be thinking about for a while. One of those where I would love to know what happened next to the characters. Jean Kwok is an author who I will definitely be reading again.

Following the story of two women from different parts of the world who are entwined through a child. Jasmine had a terrible abusive life sold to an older man when she was a teenager. She eventually escapes by the assistance of the Snakeheads who she owes money to for the travel. Eventually settling in America she meets Rebecca and their lives will change.
This was beautifully written from the two characters POV and the story behind China’s one child policy was intriguing. I hadn’t heard of this author before but I would certainly read more from her. Thank you to netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Leftover Woman is essentially a story of two compelling women, both very different and yet connected unknowingly by a mother’s love. It is a story full of emotion and immersive intensity that makes it impossible to stop reading, delving into numerous themes such as trauma, cultural identity, agency, motherhood, nature versus nurture and above all, love – and the lengths to which one will go because of it. Kwok covers these complex topics with sensitivity and nuance in a way that makes for a gripping yet elegant read from start to finish.

What I liked most about The Leftover Woman was the fact that there were a couple of twists that genuinely took me by surprise in a way that made me reconsider and reevaluate much of what I had read earlier. This is what makes a twist, in my view, really work and it certainly did here. This is a relatively slim novel yet manages to pack a real emotional punch. Tense, poignant, heartbreaking and layered, I would highly recommend adding The Leftover Woman to your TBR list.

The Leftover Woman follows the parallel stories of Jasmine and Rebecca. Unbeknownst to them, despite living completely different lives and coming from totally different cultural backgrounds, they have one very strong connection in Rebecca's adopted daughter FiFi. Jasmine is determined to face up to distressing events from her past and is willing to do anything she can to make contact with the daughter she thought she had lost. However, her journey isn't an easy one as she is heavily in debt to the gang who helped to smuggle her from China into the United States, and at the same time she is desperate to keep her whereabouts hidden from her abusive husband. Meanwhile, Rebecca is just trying to live a normal happy life, completely unaware of the bombshell which is about to rock their family to the core.

This was a fascinating insight into arranged marriages and the Chinese one child rule, and it was really interesting to see their different cultures and beliefs woven into the story. Seeing America through the eyes of someone who has just arrived from China and just how hard it is to assimilate into a different society.

This story didn’t have quite as much of a thriller element as I was expecting, there was definitely tension but it was more subtle and felt like more of a devastating family saga with themes of resentment, acceptance, jealousy, belonging, class, racism and entitlement. Either way it was beautifully written and a totally absorbing story about the power of motherhood.

A poignant story of love, motherhood, family and two very different women. Well written and emotional. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher turn the arc.

Two women from completely different backgrounds though with a connection: Jasmine has come to the beautiful country for a better life, to escape from her violent husband and to look for her daughter, Rebecca is a successful editor who comes from a rich family and has the perfect family.
Rebecca and her husband had adopted a little girl, who was abandoned by her family in China, who was looking to have a boy.

This book tells the story of motherhood, China's one child policy, the struggle of immigrants in a country and white privilege. Such a poignant book which I couldnt put down.

📱E- Book Review📱

The Leftover Woman
Jean Kwok

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was really drawn to this one by the blurb and was not diappointed.

Focus begins on the Chinese one child rule and shows how some families will go to any lengths to conform to this.
Wen wanted a son - so when Jasmine gave birth to a little girl, he whisked her away for adoption, telling his wife that she baby had died.
Five years later, Jasmine discovers the lie and heads off in search of her daughter. But Wen, being a controlling husband, is on her tail.

We also see the other side of this. Rebecca and Brandon, living and working high powered jobs in New York, they seem to have everything - except a child of their own - that is until they adopt a little Chinese girl.

This was a real slow burn drama and I loved the presentation of the families - especially the two women - and their backgrounds.
They could not have been more different!
With such a huge contrast in culture, background and wealth, it seems unlikely that the two would ever meet - but they have one thing in common and as cracks show in their marriages, they connect through the love of the child.

As a mother, stories like this tend to tug on my heartstrings and it was so easy to empathise with both our main characters - but also to really feel for the child and how this was affecting her.

The writing was perfect and built up the tension throughout leaving me desperate to know how things would turn out - and who would get what they wanted.

Dealing with so many social themes, this was a really thought-provoking and emotional read.

The Leftover Woman is a story of family, culture, love, priveledge and lack of it - told through the eyes of two very different mothers. The story isn't obvious and I loved the twists in it, it kept me hooked all the way to the last page.

Thanks to NetGalley and the pubishers for allowing me to read The Leftover Woman.

A poignant and tense story that moved me and kept on the edge. There's so much to love in this story and I enjoyed every moment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Jean Kwok has written and a compelling and heartbreaking book about the power of motherhood to cross racial and economic divides. It’s a tale of two women who are polar opposites in terms of wealth and privilege, but equal in their maternal love.

Jasmine Yang has run away from her controlling husband in China. A victim of China’s one child policy, she is not valued by her family and was sold to him at the age of 14. At first she came to love, but after a series of miscarriages he became cruel towards her and she recognised his sole obsession in bearing a son. When she eventually gave birth to a daughter, she was told the baby had died. Now she is alone and undocumented in New York and must work in a strip club as a waitress to pay back the extortionate amount of money she owes the Chinese ‘snakeheads’ for her passage to America.

Rebecca Whitney is a wealthy, career-oriented editor-in- chief of a prestigious publishing house, married to Brandon, a professor of languages including Chinese, at Columbia. Unable to have a child, they have an adopted daughter from China, Fifi. To cope with the demands of their busy jobs and lifestyle, they have a live in Chinese nanny, Lucy who loves their daughter and is teaching her Chinese.

The novel has a gradual build up, documenting the very different lives of these two strong women and the challenges they both face. Their worlds will collide spectacularly with repercussions for all in a tense twist that see the women recognise each other’s humanity. As well as exploring the themes of motherhood, class and culture, the novel also highlights the unequal way women are treated by society with standards of behaviour different to those allowed for men, regardless of their class and race. I found this a very moving read and loved the final chapter offering hope and survival for both women.

This was a fascinating story with several different threads. It brought to life the differences that varying cultures experience when they are out of their own country. The characters were excellentand the story flowed easily to the final conclusion.