RaveThe Washington Post... unsettles the reader from the very first page ... enthralling and thought-provoking ... In less capable hands, a story about a writer searching for a story about Big Oil could feel cumbersome or dry, but Jung Yun uses Elinor’s return to a place that never truly felt like home to explore larger questions about power and belonging in modern America ... As Elinor finally claims her story, it feels as if Yun is speaking to the reader directly: Look at the power, misogyny, and white supremacy rooted throughout our country — at how inextricably tied they all are ... Sometimes, Yun has a narrative tic of retelling what is already known from the details...But who can fault Yun for wanting to make clear the ways in which women live under constant threat, with daily insults building up over time? Because no matter how much we are told, very little changes ... a quiet and dangerous story and an insightful meditation on how to make our lives here, amid the beauty and horror of our country. Though the novel opens with Elinor’s uncertainty, by the end, just as she is sure the assault on the plane happened, she understands too this assignment is hers to own. This is not a novel about a woman who learns the meaning of home, but rather, about one who realizes how much she already knows about who she is and where she belongs.
Susan Straight
RaveThe Washington PostAs Straight examines their lives, a complex, multiracial and multicultural lineage unravels. Through these family stories, Straight also adeptly exposes the complicated realities of American history ... Through rich descriptions and careful research, Straight so vividly captures Fine’s long and difficult life, we feel the exhaustion in our bones ... In lucid prose, Straight weaves in stories of her childhood in Riverside, Calif., where she still lives ... The voice here is intelligent and warm, loving and honest, respectful and unafraid to directly confront the complex reality of being a white woman writing about marginalized people of color ... The weakness of In the Country of Women is its structure. Early chapters are devoted to the women of this vast and varied family, but then the focus loosens ... Straight’s skillful ability to take us from the intimacy of family history to the wider considerations of America’s legacy is a wonder.
May-Lee Chai
PositiveThe Washington Post...slim yet powerful ... immersive and complex ... The sign of a strong collection is one where the stories work together to inform the reader, and Chai’s eight tales do just that.
Alexander Chee
RaveThe Washington Post\"As Chee’s gaze turns inwards, he beckons readers to experience his private moments with such clarity and honesty that we’re immediately brought into his consciousness. At the same time, he asks us to contemplate the largest questions about identity, sexuality, family, art and war ... Though some of these beautiful pieces have been published before, collected together, they build to reveal the journey of a writer ... By the end of this moving collection, we learn through Chee’s experiences that to be a writer is to continuously reconsider the self, to find what drives you even in moments of despair.\
