Gretchen

Gretchen

Every time I see her, Gretchen is reading a new “wonderful” book and carrying another one in her oversized handbag. I’m not sure when she reads them all, probably late at night. She’s too gregarious and fun-loving to spend the whole day curled up with a book.

Gretchen is also a writer and editor. But, as Eleanor Catton, the winner of the Man Booker prize says, “Writers are readers first …” An observation that jibes with my own experience. I don’t recall writing stories when I was a child, but I do have a clear picture in my mind of my mother standing in my bedroom doorway, shaking her head, and telling me to “stop reading and go out and play.”

Gretchen's connection with books started early.

Gretchen’s connection with books started early.

An appreciative reader.

With all the books she reads, you’d think Gretchen would be a speed reader. Maybe she is. And yet, she takes time to underline. She takes notes. And if a passage is particularly good, she shares it with her friends—sometimes on Facebook, sometimes in an email. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she would do the same with my novel, Tiger Tail Soup. But when the email arrived with page after page containing passages and phrases she’d copied from my book, I was shocked. Overwhelmed. What a compliment! What a gift!

A few of Gretchen’s favorites.

I counted Gretchen’s favorite passages. There were ninety-seven of them. Here are a few:

* The puller’s bare feet plop-plopped on the dusty road as my backbone played its own song on the wooden backrest. After a kilometer or so, the land leveled out, the forests and hills giving way to fields of newly planted rice, brilliant green in every direction.

(I debated whether to use “plop-plopped.” I guess at least Gretchen thought it was okay.)

* “He lifted the little bamboo cage he carried and gazed at his canary. “How many men have been newly turned into ghosts, I cannot say.” The poetic phrase brought tears to my eyes and reminded me again of Teacher Dy.

            (The man with the canary is a refugee who fled from Amoy to Kulangsu. The phrase is something I found in my research. The Chinese language has many phrases that sound poetic to the Western ear.)

* “Young Miss,” the midwife said. “You must keep your distance. Let the pain be where it is. Leave it to do its work while you go elsewhere… You’re not needed down below.”

            (Sort of a Chinese slant on the Lamaze Method I learned many years ago before giving birth to my own children.)

* The examples set by Chinese collaborators had turned those virtues into dog shit as far as I was concerned.

(The swear words used by people from this part of China often reference animals.)

A few more of Gretchen’s favorites:

* I tried never to think of them, but my very efforts strengthened the image.

* He was like a stopped-up water kettle on a high flame.

* After a while, though, even sadness becomes tiresome.

* We dashed up the narrow alley beside our house and continued on, staying on the loneliest lanes, hugging the walls, avoiding puddles and loose stones. Two shadows in the ink-black night.

* Yu-ming had a way of opening the world up for me, making it twice as large as it was without him. I’d grown accustomed to that larger world. How I’d missed it!

Every writer should be so lucky to have appreciative readers like Gretchen.

See Gretchen’s Amazon review of Tiger Tail Soup here.

(Reviews are pure gold for a writer. If you’ve read Tiger Tail Soup, let the world know what you think of it on Amazon, Goodreads or barnesandnoble.com.)

my cover, 5-27-14Tiger Tail Soup can be purchased in bookstores. It’s also available in paperback and e-reader versions at Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

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13 Comments

  1. evelyneholingue

    First: I just love the black and white photo of little Gretchen with her book.
    Then: What a gift for you, Nicki, to have such a supportive and attentive reader.
    Best to you and your book.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Evelyne. And best of luck to you with your new novel for middle grade children, Chronicles from Chateau Moines. Anyone who’s interested can follow this link.

      Reply
  2. Paddy

    Gretchen’s shared quotes from your book is a wonderful and a sincere appreciation from Gretchen for your writing. How exciting to have a friend who is also an avid reader and author.

    Reply
  3. nrhatch

    What fun it must have been for her to read your words . . . and for you to see echoes of those words through her eyes.

    She did a great job on the Amazon review too.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      She did do a great job on Amazon. Reviews aren’t easy to write (at least not for me).

      Reply
  4. Constance - Foreign Sanctuary

    Like Jill said in a previous comment, you are very lucky to have a good friend like Gretchen. I particularly love the quote ‘After a while, though, even sadness becomes tiresome.’ A powerful sentence that is indeed worth sharing!

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Constance. I admit to liking that quote too.

      Reply
  5. Jill Weatherholt

    What a great friend you have in Gretchen, Nicki. Your book sounds wonderful, so many great reviews. I look forward to reading it.
    I love the photo of Gretchen holding the book.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      I’m glad Gretchen sent that photo. It’s so cute!

      Reply
  6. Silver in the Barn

    Gretchen sounds like a real treasure! Her highlighted passages from your novel are compelling; I particularly like how you handled the childbirth scene. I am going to add your book to my TBR pile.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      You’re right: Gretchen is a wonderful friend–even now that she’s moved to the other side of the country.

      I’m delighted that you’re going to add my book to you “to-be-read” pile. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

      Reply
  7. katecrimmins

    I loved your book but you already know that. If anyone is on the fence they should definitely read it. I read it all (and I am a notorious skimmer of excessive descriptors). The words were like poetry and the people so real you could reach out and touch them.

    Reply

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