Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok
William Morrow, June 6 2019
eGalley provided by the publisher, thank you!
My review of other Jean Kwok books:
Girl In Translation
Mambo In Chinatown
A poignant and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties binding three women—two sisters and their mother—in one Chinese immigrant family and explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge, from the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation
It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes.
Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.
But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it’s Amy’s turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister’s movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy’s complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have imagined.
A deeply moving story of family, secrets, identity, and longing, Searching for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone—especially those we love.
The broad theme of this novel is to solve the mystery as Amy is searching for her missing sister but in reality the reader is taken on a journey of the heart of the characters of Amy's family. Sylvie was always on a pedestal once she returned to Amy's family in New York but when Sylvie is compelled to return to the Netherlands to be with her dying grandmother she disappears soon after. Amy is forced to overcome her own insecurities to begin the quest for Sylvie. Traveling to the Netherlands Amy meets the family where Sylvie was raised and discovers so much more about her sister. Amy is confused as to why there is so much animosity towards her sister from the family who were supposed to love her like one of their own. Slowly secrets are unraveled as the narration switches between the characters as well as different time frames so that the veil of the mystery is being slowly lifted for the reader. Nuances of guilt and dishonor come to light as the family is forced to face the reality of what should of been foreseen long ago with Sylvie. The sins of the mother are visited upon the daughter and wounds are laid open to bleed with little hope of healing the wound. The lessons that are given through the character studies are worthy of us all and points us in the right direction of respecting values and embracing flaws. "If you were born a dime, you would never become a quarter."
Searching for Sylvie Lee is a hypnotizing story that will pull you in from the beginning. I especially loved the way the voices changed from each character's point of view, and I can both appreciate and envy Jean Kwok's gift for saying so much within a sentence.
Favorite quotes:
"This was how the mind worked, deceiving us so we could bear the many sorrows of life."
"But he has only taught me that in these modern times, the distinction between hero and villain was often in the eye of the beholder."
I turned off commenting long ago on the blog but I welcome comments at the Facebook page here.
.JPG)