October 6, 2023 • 44 mins
Jean Kwok immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five, where she lived with her family in an unheated, roach-infested apartment.
Her 2010 book, GIRL IN TRANSLATION, is a fictionalized account of how Jean worked in a clothing factory for much of her childhood. She followed that with MAMBO IN CHINATOWN which echoed the three years that Jean worked as a professional ballroom dancer, and SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE, which was an instant NYTimes bestseller and a Read with Jenna Book Club pick. Now Jean’s out with a new novel, THE LEFTOVER WOMAN, which is an “evocative family drama and a riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood.” In this episode, Jean and Annmarie talk about the immigrant experience in this country, the joy of ballroom dancing, and the emotional truth at the core of the best fiction.
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