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Besotted
Besotted is the ballad of Sasha and Liz, American expats in Shanghai. Both have moved abroad to escape—Sasha from her father’s disapproval, Liz from the predictability of her hometown. When they move in together, Sasha falls in love, but the sudden attention from a charming architect threatens the relationship. Meanwhile, Liz struggles to be both a good girlfriend to Sasha and a good friend to Sam, her Shanghainese language partner who needs more from her than grammar lessons. For fans of Prague by Arthur Phillips and The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee, Besotted is an expat novel that explores what it means to love someone while running away from yourself.
246 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2019
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242 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 29, 2020
Besotted starts at the end of an affair. Sasha is soon to leave Shanghai after four years, her departure hastened by the collapse of her relationship with Liz, whom she hired to work at the international school with her because she had no teaching experience and didn’t know any Chinese – and maybe because she signed her application cover letter “Besottedly,” thinking it meant drunkenly. Even before Liz arrived, Sasha had built up romantic notions around her, thinking she’d show her the ropes, help her create lesson plans, and give her a spare room to live in. All went according to plan – the erstwhile straight Liz even ended up in Sasha’s bed – until it fell apart.
The novel is set over about nine months in one school year and shows the main characters exploring the expat community, which primarily involves going to every bar happy hour they can find. Liz starts language exchange sessions at Starbucks with a Chinese guy named Sam, and both women try to ignore the unwanted advances of their acquaintance Dorian, an architect who’s trying to buy his own condo and has somehow never twigged that Sasha is a lesbian. Little misunderstandings and betrayals go a long way towards rearranging these relationships, while delicate flashbacks fill in the women’s lives before China.
There were a couple of narrative decisions here that didn’t entirely work for me: Sasha narrates the whole book, even scenes she isn’t present for and thoughts she couldn’t possibly know. While this emphasizes the unreliability of her perspective (“Of some parts of this story I’m certain” and “But maybe that’s not how she was”) in a playful way, in places it simply seems implausible. The other thing I wasn’t so sure about was the persistent personification of abstractions like Loneliness, Anxiety and Love. But the descriptions of the city and of expat life are terrific, and the wistful picture of a romance that starts off sweet but soon sours is convincing. This reminded me a lot of Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside by Quincy Carroll and (inevitably) The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee.
Some favorite lines:
“Shanghai had found its own identity since then: a glittering capitalist heart, hardened into a diamond and barely hidden beneath its drab, brown communist cloak. … Constantly under construction, Shanghai was a place to reinvent yourself.”
“One blossom. Two blossoms. Everywhere there are lonely people drinking tea. Shanghai is no exception. Everywhere there are lonely people holding their breath and listening for the sounds of their own heartbeats, wondering how an organ that is nearly smothered can be so impossibly loud.”
Full disclosure: Melissa and I worked together on Bookkaholic web magazine, and are Facebook friends. She sent me a free proof copy for review.
The novel is set over about nine months in one school year and shows the main characters exploring the expat community, which primarily involves going to every bar happy hour they can find. Liz starts language exchange sessions at Starbucks with a Chinese guy named Sam, and both women try to ignore the unwanted advances of their acquaintance Dorian, an architect who’s trying to buy his own condo and has somehow never twigged that Sasha is a lesbian. Little misunderstandings and betrayals go a long way towards rearranging these relationships, while delicate flashbacks fill in the women’s lives before China.
There were a couple of narrative decisions here that didn’t entirely work for me: Sasha narrates the whole book, even scenes she isn’t present for and thoughts she couldn’t possibly know. While this emphasizes the unreliability of her perspective (“Of some parts of this story I’m certain” and “But maybe that’s not how she was”) in a playful way, in places it simply seems implausible. The other thing I wasn’t so sure about was the persistent personification of abstractions like Loneliness, Anxiety and Love. But the descriptions of the city and of expat life are terrific, and the wistful picture of a romance that starts off sweet but soon sours is convincing. This reminded me a lot of Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside by Quincy Carroll and (inevitably) The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee.
Some favorite lines:
“Shanghai had found its own identity since then: a glittering capitalist heart, hardened into a diamond and barely hidden beneath its drab, brown communist cloak. … Constantly under construction, Shanghai was a place to reinvent yourself.”
“One blossom. Two blossoms. Everywhere there are lonely people drinking tea. Shanghai is no exception. Everywhere there are lonely people holding their breath and listening for the sounds of their own heartbeats, wondering how an organ that is nearly smothered can be so impossibly loud.”
Full disclosure: Melissa and I worked together on Bookkaholic web magazine, and are Facebook friends. She sent me a free proof copy for review.
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May 18, 2019Taking this on for publicity starting in June. If you're interested in covering the book or interviewing the author, please message me directly!
March 25, 2019
Duclos writes an effecting love story with her debut novel of expats escaping their complicated lives at home and looking for meaning elsewhere. Sasha and Liz both flee to Shanghai, and when they meet, they finally feel connected to something. Their love is sweet, and they're both drunk with it, but there is darkness around which they try to tiptoe. Exploring themes of home, loneliness, identity, relationships, and the ennui of the expat population in Shanghai, Duclos meticulously charts the arc of their coupledom. Beautifully done, Besotted shows us the ways in which love is sometimes the best thing we know, and sometimes the worst, but always worth examining.
April 19, 2019
There are so many reasons to love this book! The crisp writing. The spot-on rendering of the ex-pat experience. The layered characters and their complex relationships. The deft hand with which the author guides the point-of-view. But for me, the most intriguing aspect of the book is the way Duclos makes me feel both uncomfortable with the first-person narrator, Sasha, and completely compelled by her. She appears to revel in manipulating those around her (perhaps even the reader?), and yet is eminently vulnerable at the same time.
With sparse backstory, Duclos invites readers into the creative process, trusting them to fill in what happens off the page, to piece together not so much what happens but why. Besotted is a fascinating psychological study of a woman aching to replace Loneliness with Love.
With sparse backstory, Duclos invites readers into the creative process, trusting them to fill in what happens off the page, to piece together not so much what happens but why. Besotted is a fascinating psychological study of a woman aching to replace Loneliness with Love.
May 7, 2019
Spoiler Alert: The following comment reveals some plot elements.
Well written love story between Liz and Sasha. Sasha is a desperate for love, patient, predatory seducer. Liz, although well into her twenties, is an immature adolescent. Both are using ex-pat status in Singapore as a tool to conceal their self perceived real and imaginary short comings.
This is a recipe for great story telling, as well as providing commentary on Sinapore's ex pat society.
Well written love story between Liz and Sasha. Sasha is a desperate for love, patient, predatory seducer. Liz, although well into her twenties, is an immature adolescent. Both are using ex-pat status in Singapore as a tool to conceal their self perceived real and imaginary short comings.
This is a recipe for great story telling, as well as providing commentary on Sinapore's ex pat society.
June 12, 2019
I love it when I find a writer who's also a stylist. A love story told in a fresh voice (Love and Loneliness have speaking roles), a Shanghai setting filled with so much sensory detail that I felt like I knew the city, and a manipulative protagonist I couldn't help rooting for. Smart and engaging.
April 7, 2020
Ex-pat teaching experience is on-point in BESOTTED. For me it was a beguiling twist on the old mail order bride concept. Loneliness and escape are major themes woven throughout as are desperation and fashioning someone to be what you want them to be, not what they are. Excellent.
February 9, 2021
A beautiful story of growth and doomed love.
This is a beautiful story that transported me to a city I have never seen and drew me into a beautiful but ultimately doomed story of unrequited love.
This is a beautiful story that transported me to a city I have never seen and drew me into a beautiful but ultimately doomed story of unrequited love.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews