Asian American Literature Fans

A Review of Jean Kwok’s Searching for Sylvie Lee (William Morrow, 2019)
By Stephen Hong Sohn

I wouldn’t start this novel (Searching for Sylvie Lee)—Jean Kwok’s third, after Girl in Translation and Mambo in Chinatown—unless you have a lot of time on your hands. Why? Because it’s a mystery plot, as evidenced by the title. We immediately want to find out: what the hell happened to Sylvie Lee?

Let’s let the official site give us some more information before I go further (and spoil lots of things): “A poignant and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties binding three women—two sisters and their mother—in one Chinese immigrant family and explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge, from the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation. It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes. Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn't rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love. But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it's Amy's turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister's movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy's complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have imagined. A deeply moving story of family, secrets, identity, and longing, Searching for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone—especially those we love.”

Well, again, I’ll pause to state that I’ll be spoiling lots of things here and there, so turn away now. First off, Kwok’s gone positively Faulknerian with this particular work, given its complicated explorations of family genealogy, illicit romances, and unrequited loves. Kwok also compels us in her use of shifting first person. The primary perspectives are given to Amy, Sylvie, and their mother Ma. There are also crucial shifts in time. Amy’s and Ma’s first person accounts unfold, for the most part, in chronological time: we’re following them as they help unravel the mystery plot. Sylvie’s is occurring a little bit earlier, giving us the sense of what went on in the period leading up to her disappearance.

We do discover that Sylvie’s been harboring some secrets, ones that increase the possible motives and suspects. First, there’s the estrangement from her husband Jim, who we find out is a domestic abuser. Then, there’s the strange behavior of Sylvie’s Aunt Helena and really Helena’s entire family, including her husband Willem and her son Lukas. Finally, what’s the deal with Lukas’s friend Filip, a talented cello instructor, who seems to have taken a liking to Sylvie? You get the feeling that Jim, Filip, or someone from Aunt Helena’s family could have had a nefarious hand in Sylvie’s disappearance.

Given the fact that I just finished Ruchika Tomar’s A Prayer for Travelers, I guess I was hoping for a more optimistic ending. Despite my personal feelings about how the novel ultimately goes down, you can’t fault Kwok for her faultlessly plotted and paced novel. The characters are multifaceted and brim with the kind of intensity that make for the most enthralling reading experience. Bonus points for taking so-called Asian American literature to the Netherlands, which is a transnational move that I definitely do not recall having read before.

Buy the Book Here.

Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Gnei Soraya Zarook

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at ssohnucr@gmail.com
Gnei Soraya Zarook, PhD Student in English, at gzaro001@ucr.edu