Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah

Isabelle Lee is an American girl. Her parents were from China. In her heart she is an American but people around her viewed her differently.

She can speak only "kitchen Chinese" not proper Chinese.Her mother and Aunt, the typical Chinese, are forever pressing her to get marry and have children

When she lost her job and dumped by her boyfriend, she was at lost on what to do. Her best friend suggested that she need a change of scenery and among the suggestion was that she goes to China for a change.

At first she thought it was a crazy idea but when the situation become too pressing, she decided it's not too crazy after all and decide to go to China. After all, her elder sister, Claire is in China and  is a big shot lawyer there.

Hence starts her adventure in China. Claire found her a job in a Expat Magazine. She venture into the realm which she loves - food review. At first she was doubtful whether she could handle the work as her Chinese is not the standard Chinese. It's more of kitchen Chinese which she pick up from listening to her parents and aunts talking informally.

Nevertheless, Ed, the editor was willing to help her out. From there she rebuilt her life bits by bits. She got to know more about Claire. Seems that Claire have turned into a beautiful swan in China but is she truly happy?

Meantime, Isabelle love life seems to bloom too with two amazing guys at her heels. Who would she choose.

Usually, the books that I pick up which relates to China involves a lot of heartache and tears like The Good Earth and Peony's Love. I was expecting a similar type of story for this book. I was surprised that this is not such book

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it very much. It's refreshing. This story seems to be so normal, in a good way. The flow of the story was smooth and the plot were interesting.

The scene and characters felt authentic. It's like taking sneak a peek into the life of a real person. Ya, ya ..am a "Kaypoh" (busybody). It's fun to read about Claire and Isabella .

People say loves is blind and it was actually so here. There are times when I felt like reaching into the book and give Claire and Isabella a shake to wake them up.

Yes, this book certainly give a fresh breath of live on books related to China. There are just too many tearful books in the market right now. Maybe this will be a new trend for coming books that relates to China. Chinese descendants from all over the world going back to China and experiencing China. Stories being told from their point of view instead of the from Maoist Era.