Beautiful As Yesterday

'Speaking English is like taking a bath with my clothes on,' Mary Chang admits after having lived in America for more than ten years. Under the facade of being a devoted wife, mother, churchgoer, and a high-tech professional, she is tormented by adultery, her grudge toward her parents, and her despair at work. Ingrid, Mary's attractive estranged sister, prefers her bohemian friends' Latin culture to her own, though her college boyfriend's tragic death never fails to haunt her. When their widowed mother comes to America for the first time, however, they can't avoid a family get-together. Amid all it stirs up, it becomes clear that the uneasy relationship between the sisters has deeper roots than either has ever acknowledged - and extends to their relationships with both their parents and their homeland.
Stretching from mid-century China to the US at the turn of the millennium, Beautiful as Yesterday explores issues of identity, of family and friendship, love and loss. Written in tight, beautifully crafted prose, it is a penetrating exploration of what it means to belong, and the impact of history and memories on one's life.