Welcome to my weekly post where I share some of the great books I read before starting Nicole’s Nook.
Today’s Book: Soy Sauce for Beginners by Kirsten Chen
Publisher: New Harvest
Publication Date: January 1, 2014
Date Read: December 27, 2016
My rating: 4 stars
Favorite Quote:
“One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.”
― Kirstin Chen, Soy Sauce for Beginners
Goodreads Synopsis:
Gretchen Lin, adrift at the age of thirty, leaves her floundering marriage in San Francisco to move back to her childhood home in Singapore and immediately finds herself face-to-face with the twin headaches she’s avoided her entire adult life: her mother’s drinking problem and the machinations of her father’s artisanal soy sauce business.
Surrounded by family, Gretchen struggles with the tension between personal ambition and filial duty, but still finds time to explore a new romance with the son of a client, an attractive man of few words. When an old American friend comes to town, the two of them are pulled into the controversy surrounding Gretchen’s cousin, the only male grandchild and the heir apparent to Lin’s Soy Sauce. In the midst of increasing pressure from her father to remain permanently in Singapore—and pressure from her mother to do just the opposite—Gretchen must decide whether she will return to her marriage and her graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory, or sacrifice everything and join her family’s crusade to spread artisanal soy sauce to the world.
My Thoughts:
I love a good story about starting over and facing family issues. The background of a soy sauce empire made this one unique. I knew next to nothing about soy sauce aside from using it as an ingredient, and thought little about the quality. In addition to the story of Gretchen’s self-discovery, there were lots of tidbits about the soy sauce industry, I never would’ve known. I was surprised when I saw how long it’s been since I read this book, because I still think of it. I love books like this where I can gain knew knowledge through fiction.