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In "Satisfaction Cafe," Kathy Wang presents an extremely complex and compelling protagonist, Joan Liang. She was born in Taiwan to parents who never liked her and considered her a liability. By a stroke of luck, it was she, and not her more valued brothers, who was sent off to California to study at Stanford. Her marriage to a Chinese man is short lived, ending abruptly when she stabs him. Soon afterwards, she accepted a marriage proposal from Bill, a wealthy older man with three previous marriages. Their union faced considerable scrutiny from both their families, especially Bill's children.
At this point in the story, Joan's life seems to have followed a haphazard path, not anything she could have planned. In many respects she seems to have been passive, more an observer of what is happening. However, she demonstrated assertiveness when she confronted her first husband and later took drastic action to protect her son from a bully.
Joan's situation changes and, as her children get on with their lives, she finds herself increasingly isolated. A chance conversation with a stranger prompts Joan to recognize the desire people have for communication and the need to tell their story to someone who listens. This resurrects an old fantasy:
"When she was little, she used to daydream of a place she named in her head the Satisfaction Cafe", which had friendly employees and nice food and pretty toys; even as a child, Joan's imagination had not stretched to fantastic outcomes but, rather, a reasonable amount of happiness."
Joan opens the Satisfaction Cafe with a simple philosophy: people want to be heard. She recruits various types of people for her customers to open up to. She tells her staff that people just want to be asked about themselves. "Ask questions... about them! If they look troubled, ask what is bothering them! Everyone is interesting-- you just have to discover what it is."
While the title might suggest the cafe is present throughout the book, it only appears in the final third. Also, this is character-driven with emotional depth rather than employing dramatic plot devices. Some may find this too slow, though I personally enjoyed it. It has been written more than once that Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Strout fans are likely to appreciate this book, which should give you a good indication of its style.
I just found Joan fascinating and unpredictable... in other words, very authentic. She is someone I would like to find myself at a table with.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
In "Satisfaction Cafe," Kathy Wang presents an extremely complex and compelling protagonist, Joan Liang. She was born in Taiwan to parents who never liked her and considered her a liability. By a stroke of luck, it was she, and not her more valued brothers, who was sent off to California to study at Stanford. Her marriage to a Chinese man is short lived, ending abruptly when she stabs him. Soon afterwards, she accepted a marriage proposal from Bill, a wealthy older man with three previous marriages. Their union faced considerable scrutiny from both their families, especially Bill's children.
At this point in the story, Joan's life seems to have followed a haphazard path, not anything she could have planned. In many respects she seems to have been passive, more an observer of what is happening. However, she demonstrated assertiveness when she confronted her first husband and later took drastic action to protect her son from a bully.
Joan's situation changes and, as her children get on with their lives, she finds herself increasingly isolated. A chance conversation with a stranger prompts Joan to recognize the desire people have for communication and the need to tell their story to someone who listens. This resurrects an old fantasy:
"When she was little, she used to daydream of a place she named in her head the Satisfaction Cafe", which had friendly employees and nice food and pretty toys; even as a child, Joan's imagination had not stretched to fantastic outcomes but, rather, a reasonable amount of happiness."
Joan opens the Satisfaction Cafe with a simple philosophy: people want to be heard. She recruits various types of people for her customers to open up to. She tells her staff that people just want to be asked about themselves. "Ask questions... about them! If they look troubled, ask what is bothering them! Everyone is interesting-- you just have to discover what it is."
While the title might suggest the cafe is present throughout the book, it only appears in the final third. Also, this is character-driven with emotional depth rather than employing dramatic plot devices. Some may find this too slow, though I personally enjoyed it. It has been written more than once that Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Strout fans are likely to appreciate this book, which should give you a good indication of its style.
I just found Joan fascinating and unpredictable... in other words, very authentic. She is someone I would like to find myself at a table with.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
