Writing courses tell you that if you want to write a novel you should start it with a bang. That is the only way to grab (and keep) the readers’ attention. Wayson Choy in The Jade Peony does exactly the opposite. The book begins with a whisper. But it’s a melodic, loud whisper, full of colors, smells and nuances.
Most of the (in)action occurs in or around the kitchen of the protagonist’s house. She’s a small girl from a family that immigrated to Canada (Vancouver) from China. Reading this first chapter, getting acquainted with the family members, how they follow the rules of Poh-Poh the Old One (an unpleasant iron-fist-matriarch), how after some time living in Canada they still cling to old habits and speak a broken English, inevitably brings to mind the garrison mentality of the first Canadian explorations. Keep out otherness, keep away the unknown and stick to the old.
The family behaves... well, like any family would. Parents and grand-parents trying to make the new generations behave according to their own standards and, eventually having to face the reality that children are indomitable.
Cultural differences abound. From food preferences to some politically incorrectness, one thing prevails: kids will be kids. Ask the Monkey Man about it.
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