Hong Kong sets the stage for stories of expatriation, cultural divide, and the varying ways in which grief causes isolation, as seen through three connected women.
There’s a distant tone to much of the novel, but it proves as deceptive as the fantasies of expatriate life: Lee tells devastating stories at an emotional remove, yet each blow as it falls is deeply felt.
Lee has a gift for the well-observed generalization, but a related tendency to oversummarize ... The book is also vibrant social satire: Inside these dark materials lies the sharpness of a comic novelist, and Lee’s eye for the nuance and clash of culture, class, race and sex is subtle and shrewd.
It’s hard not to wish Margaret’s misfortune to take center stage instead of sharing the limelight with Hilary and Mercy’s struggles, which pale in comparison. And in the interest of not spilling spoilers, let’s just say that the book’s ending might ignite the ire (or bafflement) of more judgmental readers.
