Critical Praise

"Psychologically and politically astute...Jen's eye for the complexities of American life is shrewd, her characters utterly believable."

——Kirkus

"A vibrant work...A probing & hilarious inquiry into complex questions of nurture and nature, bloodlines and love."

——Donna Seaman, Booklist

"I've been reading and marveling . . . Her characters are so alive that one can hardly call them 'characters.' Blondie, Mama Wong, Carnegie, Lizzy, Wendy, and, oh, Lan! I didn't want to part from them: here is a novel so insightful, so satisfying, that it ought never to have ended. The interlude in China, the ingenuity of the narration, the tenderness, the all-observing comedy, the darker elements, the perfect-pitch dialogue, the domestic exactitude, the surprises! Having lived for a time (too brief a time) with Gish's people as with one's own family, one comes to love them."

——Cynthia Ozick

"What a truly satisfying read The Love Wife is. As I got to know the Wongs-a family like more and more American families-I loved each one of them. Hearing their multi-lingual voices and participating in their delights and sadnesses, their fun and troubles, I felt my own understanding and kindness grow. A wonderful book."

——Maxine Hong Kingston