River East, River West by Lescure

RIVER EAST, RIVER WEST by Aube Rey Lescure is a debut novel which received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. The basic storyline involves Alva, a 14-year-old mixed-race teen in 2007 Shanghai; her new step-father and disgruntled, almost retired businessman, Lu Fang; and the mother/wife, Sloan, who is a former minor American movie star. Each character has an interesting back story (Lu Fang and Sloane have been lovers since the mid-1980s), but their goals don’t mesh well and it may be difficult for readers to look beyond the self-centeredness that each exhibits: Alva acts out and LuFang, with some justification, still mourns the lost opportunities due to the Cultural Revolution. Everyone is unhappy; Booklist calls them “prisoners of their circumstances” while a minor character comments, “Learning to be content – that is wealth in itself.” Rey Lescure, a French-Chinese-American writer who grew up in China and France, makes several barbed references and thus introduces some political commentary, but the text moves slowly overall.