(Subdue) Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim – 4 Stars

[Hannah]

This is a very engaging story about a young Chinese woman who takes on another’s identity as her new husband’s recently deceased first wife so she can travel to California with him and his son. Whilst waiting to enter America, Mei Ling is detained on Angel Island where makes friends and takes a young girl under her protection. When released from detention, Mei Ling realises that her new husband is not who she thought he was, and we see her marriage to Chinn Kai Li as they get to know and understand each other better, and their knowledge of how to live in California as a family and to get ahead develops further. I really liked all of the characters, and felt that they were well developed, showing loyalty and courage, and I loved how Mei Ling relied on her inner dragon when in situations that made her need all of her tenacity and fierceness. The ending did feel a little rushed and a little too neatly tied-up, but this was a well-researched book that showed how Chinese immigrants to the US lived in the early 20th century, as well as the attitudes towards them.

[NancyJ]

I really liked this one too. I think I liked it better than Shanghai Girls which also includes Angel Island. The characters were on the island a lot longer but they didn’t encounter the sex trafficking issue that Paper Wife revealed.