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cheriekg's review against another edition
4.0
I would say this falls in the Not Life Changing But I Really Enjoyed It category. The sharp insights of what it means to be part of an immigrant family in America contrasted against the mystery of Rose Wilder...it was surprising an intriguing. I would absolutely read something else by her.
rubenstein's review against another edition
5.0
edited January, 2015: my reread
this review goes live on the blog 02/03 along with a giveaway!
Shortly after obtaining her PhD yet still unable to find a job, Lee Lien returns home. Her relationship with her mother is frosty at best, yet her beloved grandfather always finds a way to smooth things over. The family's latest restaurant, the Lotus Leaf, has a steady string of customers, and Lee is more than ready to try a few changes, switch things around in an attempt to really get business booming. The Liens' world comes to a halt with the unexpected return of Sam, Lee's brother. As the oldest (and the male), Sam is the golden child, the one who is set to inherit the restaurant (whether he wants it or not), and his actions are always forgiven. In his mother's eyes he can do no wrong. So when he empties the cash register - and his mother's jewelry box - to start a new life out west, Mrs. Lien cleans the entire house and waits for the day when he'll return.
With Sam's departure, Lee discovers a token he left behind for her: a small pin from a lifetime ago in Vietnam. Since she was a child, Lee has heard her mother and grandfather tell stories about their cafe in Saigon and how they were visited by a nice American woman. Whether she purposefully left the pin behind they can't say, but it has remained with them decades later, making the trip to America and a new life. As Lee digs deeper into the pin's story, she uncovers a hidden history that could potentially link her family to Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I had been looking forward to Pioneer Girl since I first heard about it last year and I'm thrilled to say it did not disappoint! In fact, it exceeded all expectations and then some! Essentially there are two stories in this novel: Lee's and Rose's. When I read novels where the focus is on multiple characters, I usually find myself preferring one over the other but I'm pleased to say that was not the case in Pioneer Girl. I was as invested in Lee's story as I was in Rose Wilder Lane's and because of that, I wound up breezing through the book much quicker than I would have liked (this is a novel to be slowly savored).
As interesting as Lee's family was, Rose was an equally fascinating woman in her own right. Prior to Pioneer Girl I had a rough idea of who the Wilder family was and what The Little House on the Prairie series was all about. Somehow I managed to skip these books as a child, but Pioneer Girl piqued my interest. Especially with the rumors that Rose was actually the writer, not Laura, and that Rose would fudge details and expand upon anecdotes for the sake of a good story. She even demanded that Laura write solely in third person in their letters!
Despite being a history buff (and spending many elementary school computer classes playing Oregon Trail), I tend to see the Old West and prairie life through rose-colored glasses. While reading Pioneer Girl it became all too evident that times were hard - if not downright brutal - for pioneers. Rose was the only child of the Wilders to survive to adulthood and she herself lost her only child after a few days. Her relationship with Laura was hardly affectionate and she wound up leaving home to make it on her own in a city. Rose married for sex and divorced the man a few years later, determined to lead an independent life. As her journalism career took off, Rose traveled the world - most notably to Vietnam where she covered the war in the 1960s. Her vocal political stance took on a life of its own and she's now considered to be one of the founders of the American Libertarian Movement, along with Ayn Rand.
If I could go back and read Pioneer Girl all over again (I definitely see a re-read of this book in the future!) I would take my time with it and really sink into this world of Vietnamese cuisine and farmsteads. Nguyen doesn't have many books to her name at this point: Short Girls and a memoir entitled Stealing Buddha's Dinner, but they're now on my radar and I can't wait to track down my own copies! Whether you're looking for diversity (her novels feature Vietnamese families and culture) or simply want a good book, Bich Minh Nguyen is an author to keep your eye on.
this review goes live on the blog 02/03 along with a giveaway!
Shortly after obtaining her PhD yet still unable to find a job, Lee Lien returns home. Her relationship with her mother is frosty at best, yet her beloved grandfather always finds a way to smooth things over. The family's latest restaurant, the Lotus Leaf, has a steady string of customers, and Lee is more than ready to try a few changes, switch things around in an attempt to really get business booming. The Liens' world comes to a halt with the unexpected return of Sam, Lee's brother. As the oldest (and the male), Sam is the golden child, the one who is set to inherit the restaurant (whether he wants it or not), and his actions are always forgiven. In his mother's eyes he can do no wrong. So when he empties the cash register - and his mother's jewelry box - to start a new life out west, Mrs. Lien cleans the entire house and waits for the day when he'll return.
With Sam's departure, Lee discovers a token he left behind for her: a small pin from a lifetime ago in Vietnam. Since she was a child, Lee has heard her mother and grandfather tell stories about their cafe in Saigon and how they were visited by a nice American woman. Whether she purposefully left the pin behind they can't say, but it has remained with them decades later, making the trip to America and a new life. As Lee digs deeper into the pin's story, she uncovers a hidden history that could potentially link her family to Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I had been looking forward to Pioneer Girl since I first heard about it last year and I'm thrilled to say it did not disappoint! In fact, it exceeded all expectations and then some! Essentially there are two stories in this novel: Lee's and Rose's. When I read novels where the focus is on multiple characters, I usually find myself preferring one over the other but I'm pleased to say that was not the case in Pioneer Girl. I was as invested in Lee's story as I was in Rose Wilder Lane's and because of that, I wound up breezing through the book much quicker than I would have liked (this is a novel to be slowly savored).
As interesting as Lee's family was, Rose was an equally fascinating woman in her own right. Prior to Pioneer Girl I had a rough idea of who the Wilder family was and what The Little House on the Prairie series was all about. Somehow I managed to skip these books as a child, but Pioneer Girl piqued my interest. Especially with the rumors that Rose was actually the writer, not Laura, and that Rose would fudge details and expand upon anecdotes for the sake of a good story. She even demanded that Laura write solely in third person in their letters!
Despite being a history buff (and spending many elementary school computer classes playing Oregon Trail), I tend to see the Old West and prairie life through rose-colored glasses. While reading Pioneer Girl it became all too evident that times were hard - if not downright brutal - for pioneers. Rose was the only child of the Wilders to survive to adulthood and she herself lost her only child after a few days. Her relationship with Laura was hardly affectionate and she wound up leaving home to make it on her own in a city. Rose married for sex and divorced the man a few years later, determined to lead an independent life. As her journalism career took off, Rose traveled the world - most notably to Vietnam where she covered the war in the 1960s. Her vocal political stance took on a life of its own and she's now considered to be one of the founders of the American Libertarian Movement, along with Ayn Rand.
If I could go back and read Pioneer Girl all over again (I definitely see a re-read of this book in the future!) I would take my time with it and really sink into this world of Vietnamese cuisine and farmsteads. Nguyen doesn't have many books to her name at this point: Short Girls and a memoir entitled Stealing Buddha's Dinner, but they're now on my radar and I can't wait to track down my own copies! Whether you're looking for diversity (her novels feature Vietnamese families and culture) or simply want a good book, Bich Minh Nguyen is an author to keep your eye on.
jeninmotion's review against another edition
4.0
I am a Wilder junkie and a former lit grad student. For people who are both, this is going to speak to you. It is also a story about American immigrant experience, the Midwest and the whole nature of frontiers.
sarahjsnider's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.75
I can’t read about anymore sad underemployed adjuncts
hollie313's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
mimima's review against another edition
3.0
I'm pretty sure I have never read a novel that felt so much like a memoir - I don't know if it was voice or the story. It was an interesting read and I enjoyed it, but I doubt that it will be one that sticks with me.
matamgirl's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the book but I see what other people mean when they say that it was different after Gregory entered the picture. I did not have any trouble distinguishing fact from fiction because I do know enough about the Little House books to know what is true and what isn't. Having said that I can also see how that would be problematic for other readers because not everyone knows a lot about the Little House books and maybe you shouldn't expect that level of knowledge from your readership. The comparisons between Lee and her mother and Rose and Laura were interesting.
I'm an archivist and I do historical research. The scenes where she steals stuff from the archive and then later from the museum are why this book has three stars. I'm sorry I know it is fiction but I just can't let go of that. Besides people do try and steal things because they mean something personal to them all the time.
This is a book that will definitely be of interest to Little House fans if you are the type of Little House fan who can deal with the fact that RealLaura and BookLaura are totally different people.
I'm an archivist and I do historical research. The scenes where she steals stuff from the archive and then later from the museum are why this book has three stars. I'm sorry I know it is fiction but I just can't let go of that. Besides people do try and steal things because they mean something personal to them all the time.
This is a book that will definitely be of interest to Little House fans if you are the type of Little House fan who can deal with the fact that RealLaura and BookLaura are totally different people.
bibliocat4's review against another edition
4.0
Actually really enjoyed this book! I still would like to know if the pin was actually Rose's (show your grandpa a picture of her!) but I liked the mystery and discovery as well.
quinnster's review against another edition
1.0
When I read the synopsis of this book I think I was expecting something completely different. I was expecting a book about a complicated relationship between a young Vietnamese woman and her mother. A woman looking for her place in life when all she knew was school.
What I got was a dry biography of Laura and Rose Ingalls. Maybe if I had read the Little House On The Prairie books as a child I would have found this interesting. Maybe if I had even watched and enjoyed the show, but I didn't so most of this did not appeal to me at all.
Added to the history of the Ingalls woman the characters just infuriated me. Lee's older brother was just an entitled jerk, her mother an unforgiving manipulative woman and Lee herself was without any passion or backbone.
The only tidbit I did find interesting was that Rose Wilder Lane had once lived in San Jose on a farm. I'm curious where her farm was....
What I got was a dry biography of Laura and Rose Ingalls. Maybe if I had read the Little House On The Prairie books as a child I would have found this interesting. Maybe if I had even watched and enjoyed the show, but I didn't so most of this did not appeal to me at all.
Added to the history of the Ingalls woman the characters just infuriated me. Lee's older brother was just an entitled jerk, her mother an unforgiving manipulative woman and Lee herself was without any passion or backbone.
The only tidbit I did find interesting was that Rose Wilder Lane had once lived in San Jose on a farm. I'm curious where her farm was....
bookswooned's review against another edition
5.0
An incredibly well written poignant book about childhood and returning home.