Assessment:
Plot: Well-paced and continuously engaging, Salatka’s fictitious story pulls the reader through time and the emotional growth of the main character skillfully and earnestly.
Prose/Style: Salatka’s journalistic training pays off in her true-life-inspired story. Told in the first person, Salatka’s detail is on point and her voice is evident as characterized. At once, the book reads like a memoir and a piece of fiction.
Originality: Salatka’s fictionalized story of her journey from being a tense salesperson to a world-traveling, enlightened mom is familiar, inspiring, and brave. Her sincerity while being immersed in a new culture is balanced with raw emotion and grace.
Character Development/Execution: Protagonist Tina is depicted as painfully harsh or insensitive to those around her, but fully embodied descriptions allow for her hard shell to be thoughtfully softened with time and humility.
Blurb: Covering two years of a new life in Shanghai, Salatka describes one woman and her family’s transition in beautiful detail with utter honesty. The challenges and adjustments the family faces range from typical culture shock to common human experiences.
Date Submitted: August 06, 2021
