Welcome to Litsy!

Great short story collection that blends literary fiction with historical fiction. My favorite story was about a couple trying to escape Shanghai during the Japanese invasion. Fantastic ending! Another hit was a story about a Chinese boy in 1920s Vancouver who dresses as a girl to join a hockey team. The ending novella was frustrating because I‘d expect more resolution of the characters‘ arcs in 90 pages. Still a pick though!

It‘s been a short story kind of week, so I threw four from #MountTBR in a random picker, and this popped out. It will be my better-late-than-never center square in #BookspinBingo!

Also love the colors of this wheel! I may save it to use again. 💜💙

Jack Wang does NOT mess around, y‘all. I usually read only a story or two per day from collections like this, but I think I‘ve gotta read WE TWO ALONE straight through.

I fell into the 3 for 2 Amazon trap! Oh well! 🤦🏻‍♀️😂😂 #bookmail

I definitely have #CoverLove for the tagged book 🤩

A poignant collection of lengthy short stories featuring characters who are part of the Chinese diaspora. The settings range from Vancouver to Shanghai to Vienna to South Africa to New York, from the 1920s to contemporary. I felt the emotional resonance in all of the stories, with my favourite being the novella that is also the title of the collection. #canadianauthor

It was one of those nights when the window unit gurgled plangently, every inch of his body skimmed with sweat. For hours, he scudded along the surface of sleep. Then, near daybreak, he fell into that deep valley and couldn‘t pull himself out.

Once, a fellow doctor had tried to take Frank to the Shanghai Club, famed for its 40-foot-long bar where patrons sat in order of rank, taipans at the end with the best view of the Bund. But nowhere along its length was there a place for someone like him. “He‘s a doctor! He‘s Canadian!” his colleague had argued, to no avail; Frank was turned away and came home burning.
(Archival photo from internet)

Book synchronicity: I just read the second story in the tagged collection. It‘s set during the Japanese takeover of Shanghai in August 1937 (The Nature of Things). I then switched to reading a translation of a Japanese detective novel. The murder happened in a Japanese village in November 1937 & one of the characters happens to be living in Shanghai. Hmmm.

The Afternoon Tea event at the Vancouver Writers Fest has always been one of my favourites. Doing it the Zoom way today.