Marianne is the perfect daughter, perfect student, and perfect girlfriend. And she’s on her way to a breakdown. Compared to the accomplishments of her Chinese parents and her brilliant boyfriend, she’s failing. Her Ph.D. research is not going well, and she worries: did she actually choose Chemistry and a life in academia or did she blindly pursue what her parents wanted her to? Is she Chinese enough for her family? Is she American enough for her co-workers? I understood. I was born to Indian parents but felt foreign among other Indians. I spoke perfect English but never felt comfortable in American circles either. I had no desire to go to medical, biz or law school like other Asians, but I had no idea what else I wanted to do with my life. Marianne’s “otherness” was my “otherness,” and her rejection of the life others imagined for her is my rejection as well.
At first glance, the quirky, overworked narrator of Weike Wang's debut novel seems to be on the cusp of a perfect life: she is studying for a prestigious PhD in chemistry that will make her Chinese parents proud (or at least satisfied), and her successful, supportive boyfriend has just proposed to her. But instead of feeling hopeful, she is wracked with ambivalence: the long, demanding hours at the lab have created an exquisite pressure cooker, and she doesn't know how to answer the marriage question. When it all becomes too much and her life plan veers off course, she finds herself on a new path of discoveries about everything she thought she knew. Smart, moving, and always funny, this unique coming-of-age story is certain to evoke a winning reaction.
