Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Reviewed by Mary

What must it feel like to come to a new nation, carrying hopes and dreams of a better life? For some reading this, you most likely know the excitement and anticipation of such a journey. As an immigrant from Hong-Kong, Kimberly, or Ah-Kim as her mother calls her, holds firm to the belief that America will bestow her mother and her with promises of freedom, wealth, and hopeful future....

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A mother-daughter story told entirely through notes left for each other on the refrigerator door.

A heartbroken thirty year old Los Angeles woman is sent back in time to the early 1800's to the world of Jane Austen's characters.

When Georgia Walker was pregnant, she began taking on knitting projects to make extra money. She has worked hard to build her business, and her daughter is almost thirteen now. Their small Manhattan knitting store is called "Walker and Daughter" and it is tucked away above a popular deli. Busy city women rush in at closing time to pick up one more skein or get supplies for a new project, and on Friday night, regular customers tend to linger longer, talking and knitting and becoming friends. Read The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs!

On the surface, this is the story of a woman and her two daugthers -- but how these three women who are all seriously damaged emotionally cope with their situations is the stuff of this novel. Janelle Brown has an eye for detail that lets you feel as if you are actually in their presence. She creates a world of confusion and doubt as they grope for each other and a solution to their troubles. Stay with them as they band together to banish their demons and to emerge stronger and more empowered.

Reviewed by Susie Nightingale

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