It’s Thursday! Today I have a review for What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan and published in July by Little, Brown. It has received high praise over on Bookstagram, and I could not wait to read the story of the Zhen family.
My Thoughts:
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.
Synopsis:
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 who have returned to a radically transformed city.
One morning, in the eighth tower of Lanson Suites, Lina discovers that a childhood keepsake, an ivory bracelet, has gone missing. The incident contributes to a wave of unease that has begun to settle throughout the Zhen household. Wei, a marketing strategist, bows under the guilt of not having engaged in nobler work. Meanwhile, Lina, lonely in her new life of leisure, assumes the modern moniker taitai–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. Lina and Wei take pains to hide their anxieties, but their housekeeper, Sunny, a hardworking girl with secrets of her own, bears witness to their struggles. When Qiang reappears in Shanghai after decades on the run with a local gang, the family must finally come to terms with the past.
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, WHAT WE WERE PROMISED explores the question of what we owe to our country, our families, and ourselves.
Have you read What We Were Promised, or do you plan to? Have you read any great books lately involving a different culture than your own? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR
This book sounds amazing. I plan to read it. I read Little Fires Everywhere and enjoyed that one. Your picture is lovely.
Happy Thursday. 🌹🌺🌸📚
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Virginia! I hope it’s a great read for you too! Little Fires Everywhere was a book I loved! I hope you have a wonderful Thursday, too! ♥️ 🌺
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am pretty sure I have this one but if not I hope my library will get it. Great review!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Marialyce! I hope it’s a great read for you, too! I really loved the customs clash between modern and old.
LikeLike
Definitely an interesting journey for this family!… Maybe if Lina is so bored, she should start a blog! That would fill the time! 🤔😉 Great review. 💖👍
LikeLiked by 2 people
😂 Lina would never know boredom again, would she?! I have to sit for hours to get my hair highlighted, and yesterday was my appointment. My stylist asked if I needed any magazines or books, etc., and I said I had my phone, which was filled with entertainment. She probably though I meant Facebook, but I meant blogs and my Kindle app! ♥️ Thank you, Nicole! Xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha!! EXACTLY!! WordPress and Kindle are all you need!! ❤️❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another interesting book another fabulous review! I love the Chinese culture I find it terribly interesting, this looks really good!💛
LikeLiked by 2 people
Just have to say jinx because we were commenting on each other’s blogs at the same time! ♥️ The aspects of culture in this book were completely fascinating. It was a nice mix of old customs and modern and the mixing of the two. 💗 Thank you, bestie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha I noticed that this morning, but I am just now getting around to getting caught up real life called my name to early this morning!
Have you read anything from Lisa Sea?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have! The most recent one is The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane! Have you read any of hers? I’m hopeful this will bridge you over into Hist Fic! ♥️
LikeLike
Awesome review Jen and I think I have this one! Thank you for the reminder!😍❤😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Sus! Yay!!! I can’t wait to read what you think! I hope it’s a good read for you too! ♥️ xo (late checking in again- ugh!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s my current read……just getting started……I always appreciate the journey into another culture.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, good, Carol! I hope it’s a great read for you too! Enjoy! I’ll watch for your review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review of what sounds like an interesting look at the massive cultural changes in China over the last few decades. I keep meaning to read more of Amy Tan’s books – I’ll bear this one in mind if I ever get a gap in review copies!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, FF! Yes, that is a better way of saying what it covers. Such a big shift with modernization. I have meant to read more Amy Tan too! I have a couple here. Just a couple. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another fantastic review my friend! 🤗
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, my sweet friend! ♥️
LikeLike
I have not read this yet. I’ve actually never read anything by Amy Tan, but I have heard so many good things about her books. I’m going to add this one to my list! Thanks!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
You’re welcome, Theresa! This book is by Lucy Tan. 😊 I am worried I may have said Amy in my review, but I don’t see it? As far as I know, they are no relation, but this is a wonderful book. By the way, too, The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan is one of the best books I’ve ever read! That one is historical fiction, so a different genre than this one, which is more general fiction.
LikeLike
Beautiful review as always Jen. I love reading and learning about different cultures, especially Chinese, Japanese and Russian. It’s fascinating to learn about something else, occasionally things that are so alien from your own. Makes me want to just learn more and more! 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Beth! I agree- I just soak it up! Probably why one of my majors in college was anthropology- culture fascinates me! I’m so happy you feel the same! ♥️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review! This is another one that I want to read. Have you read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee yet? I just bought it yesterday and have been meaning to read it since it was published-it’s another one that I hope to get to this year! I know you majored in anthropology, but my English minor was in Cultural Studies so I guess we both love cultural things! I had to take a ton of cultural lit classes and always teach one Interpreting Lit class with a cultural theme (but I think I mentioned that and you wanted to take it, lol). There are just too many great books to choose from though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Stephanie! I have not read Pachinko, but I have owned it from BOTM for over a year! I really want to read it! Yes, I bet that explains a lot of our similar interests – culture! Yes, I’m so happy we have many more choices these days when it comes to cultural reads! And yes, I would totally take one of your classes! ♥️
LikeLike
You and me both! And I just bought it for my kindle the other day when it was $2.99! Lol. I’m determined to read it soon. I’m sure it does. It took me a while to decide on a major; I initially intended on being a Dr then ran the gamut of law, sociology, psychology, anthropology, social work, history professor, lol. My dad was going to lose his mind at one point if I didn’t declare a major and stop bouncing around. I just going to school…I would be a life long student if I could be lol. That would be very interesting! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would love to be a lifelong student, too! I thought I was premed when I entered college as well! Then BIO 11 happened….. 😂 ♥️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh too funny! I loved Biology. It would have been the Chemistry classes that would have driven me insane. Ironically, my daughter wanted chemistry as her science this year…it’s 3rd grade, so I can handle it! LOL!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t mind biology, but the 500-person class was a bit much for me! At least the lab was smaller! Too cute about 3rd grade chemistry!
LikeLike
I did hate the huge classes! Ugh! I couldn’t imagine teaching a class that size! That’s terrifying. I sure hope so. I think she just wants to explode things and make slime. I guess she deserves it since I’m teaching her learn Latin, lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Latin will help her with vocabulary, which is awesome!
LikeLike
Yes! Thank you! That’s what I told my husband, who thinks I’m crazy. I told him it will help with that, and it will make it easier for her to learn other languages later, like French, which is what she wants to learn. I explained that to her and she understood me, lol. Men.
LikeLiked by 1 person