The Love Wife: - Book Report/Review Example

Carnegie suddenly found a tumultuous turn that had taken over in their house as soon as their 46 year old cousion from China, Lanlan arrived. It was insinuated that she had reached home at the instructions of Mama Wong. No one is able to understand why Lan moved in with them in the novel. She had initially entered the country on a student visa to study English but ended up becoming a part time nanny during the time Blondie and Carnegie would be at work. This is a very intriguing narrative in which each of the main characters step up and comment on what is happeining around them.

they all re-call memories from their past. The language used is bright and breezy and there is a great deal of slang used in the novel. There is a certain aura in the personality of each member of the family and they all unveil it through their own respective narrations. Most of the conflicts that were shown in the novel were due to cultural confusion and misunderstandings. Lan initially resented the Blondie and had tiffs with her because Blondie had provided her with her own apartment right above the barn.

Lan revealed that this made her feel more or less like a servant and she responded by refusing to eat with the family. While children of the family tried to mix and intermingle and develop an understanding with each other. The novel is very fast paced and focused. It is a comprehensive account on their everyday life. It is also embedded with unusual images and observation which make character visualization very easy. The men of the Blondie family were very good in their temperament. The current generation of the family was also into social service.

They were into volunteering for soup kitchens, for singing carols in hospitals at Christmas and for protesting at local program cuts. According to Blondie, they were volatile at best when compared with the original bon fires. There are some minor glitches in the novel too. Critics claim that unnecessary focus on concrete details don’t make the characters come alive; While they speak for themselves and elaborate about how they feel, most of them don’t give any real clues regarding their own motivation.

There are certain inconsistencies with the characters and their stance in the story too. Carnegie had been married for 14 years .He had always held his ground against his mom but one cannot fathom his attraction to Lan given his background and his consistency where his feelings for Janie were concerned. They are moments like these which leave you puzzled in the novel. Another puzzling character is Blondie. She was constantly portrayed as a self-confident woman of the family. She had been instrumental in keeping the flames of her marriage alive, yet it is dicey with the way she let herself be completely victimized.

This was once again a major inconsistency with her character and the way it had been sketched. It was never unveiled why Lan was so hell bent in driving Blondie out of the house. Lizzy and Wendy had the most tolerant parents who loved them unconditionally and neither child was seriously rebellious. However it was ironically strange when they claimed that they would prefer a mother like Lanlan. In the last stanza of the book the author goes on to introduce various new characters and complete shifts away from the prime focus of the story.

He introduces various other sub plots revolving around cultural issues, violence , physical abuse and prejudice against immigrants residing in rural Maine. These episodes