The Better Mother
May 2011 · Knopf Canada
3.5star
2 reviewsreport
Ebook
304
Pages
family_home
Eligible
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About this ebook
From a master of family dynamics comes this vivid tale of two misfits who find each other while stumbling toward their own true identities. In 1958, eight-year-old Danny Lim has been sent to buy cigarettes for his father, when he realizes that he has lost the money. Frantic, he rushes through Vancouver's Chinatown and behind a nightclub, where he sees Miss Val, a long-time burlesque dancer. Danny is enraptured with her sequined garters and silk robe, and Val, touched by his fascination, gives him a pack of cigarettes and her silk belt. Years later, Danny spends his days working as a wedding photographer and his nights cruising Stanley Park, far away from the home where his parents and sister live. He realizes that the key to understanding himself and his family lies in his connection to Miss Val, and he is determined to find her. Before she became the Siamese Kitten, a major player on the North American circuit, Miss Val was Valerie Nealy, a feisty girl growing up in a rundown house beside the Fraser River. But to find the stardom she thought she wanted, she had to make a series of seemingly irrevocable decisions. Set mostly during an unseasonably hot summer in Vancouver in 1982 when HIV/AIDS was spreading rapidly, The Better Mother brims with undeniable tragedy, but resounds with the power of friendship, change and truth. It will cement Jen Sookfong Lee's reputation as one of this country's finest young novelists.
Ratings and reviews
3.5
2 reviews
Elaine Michelle T
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March 16, 2017
*Before anyone makes purchase: heads up, there are mature adult contents* I am an open minded individual & in no way a "homophobe". But the book lost me when it's main character described himself going into Stanley Park to have sex with a strange moustached man. I've read plenty of books about characters having sex. Passionate sex is great! I think what got to me was the fact that it was so passionless, in a bush inside a park. Or maybe because I wasn't expecting it? The book's description stated it was about a 8 yr old boy, growing up in Chinatown, then goes looking for Miss Val, etc. The book is not rated for mature readers or anything. Although it does have the words: Eligible for Family Library. Oh well, to each their own.
About the author
JEN SOOKFONG LEE was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her books include The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, The End of East, The Shadow List, and Finding Home. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press and co-hosts the literary podcast Can’t Lit.
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