01 Nov / Steer Toward Rock by Fae Myenne Ng [in Bloomsbury Review]
Some 15 years after her award-wining literary debut with her bestselling novel, Bone, Ng finally returns with a gorgeous, yet heartbreaking story of unrequited love in 1960s San Francisco. Jack Moon Szeto arrives as a paper son to one of Chinatown’s bosses. In return for his illegal entry, Jack must eventually marry his fake father’s mistress. He spends his entire life in love with American-born Joice Qwan, who gives him a daughter, but can never commit her love to him.
Jack finally breaks his false bonds by betraying his fake father to the immigration authorities when he confesses his own illegal status – the elder Szeto is indeed deported, but not without exacting a grave price from his paper son. Not until his adult daughter finally challenges him can the middle-aged Jack finally begin his own process of making his own long overdue American claims.
Review: “TBR’s Editors’ Favorites of 2008,” The Bloomsbury Review, November/December 2008
Readers: Adult
Published: 2008
I was a bit surprised that the book dealt with the subject of paper sons and marriages and the Confession Program so openly. These are rather taboo subjects in Chinese America. But I think it is important to get some of our skeletons out of the closet to show issues that have haunted our community. Ms. Ng does a good job is weaving these issues into the stories of Jack, Joice, Ilin, and Veda. It was an interesting tale, but I was not compelled to any kind of empathy with any of the characters. They just didn’t resonate with me. The ending was a big dud to me.
Differences of opinion always welcome … thanks for commenting, too!
Have you seen Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940 (which will eventually get a posting on this blog, but I haven’t gone that far back yet in my files …)? It’s a nonfiction title by Him Mark Lai (who very very sadly passed away this week), Genny Lim (who also did the play, Paper Angels), and Judy Yung (major Chinese American historian, too)? It’s quite a testament to the resilience of early 20th-century APA immigrants, many of them paper sons …
Hi Terry, I really appreciate your reviews and perceptions. I am a johnny-come-lately to reading Asian American literature but have become obsessed with it. I’m with OCA Greater WashDC chapter and last year I helped with the Authors Forum and Book Fair at the OCA National convention. I think it was a big hit with the attendees. Have you and Smithsonian considered doing something similar on a regular basis? I think there is a market for that. I will commit the OCA to be a co-sponsor if this happens! I’d love to talk with you about this possiblity.