Last of Her Name

August 15, 2019
This intelligent debut collection of short stories features Chinese people around the globe struggling to connect with those closest to them. Many of Lok's stories unfold in a series of juxtapositions; it's up to the reader to make connections between the different lives portrayed. For example, in "Last of Her Name," a Chinese girl in England dreams of living heroically like the martial artist protagonist of her favorite TV show while, in a series of flashbacks, the reader sees her mother struggling to survive in Hong Kong under Japanese assault during World War II. In "The Wrong Dave," a Chinese man in London strikes up a heartfelt email correspondence with a young woman in Hong Kong. He met her several years ago at a wedding, and when he gets an email from her out of the blue, seeming to pick up a conversation in the middle, he doesn't tell her he thinks she's sent her email to the wrong person named Dave. As he prepares for his wedding, he feels more emotionally open with her than with his own fiancee. A young woman in California cannot fathom her globe-trotting brother's joyful rootlessness in "Bad Influence." And in the novella The Woman in the Closet, an elderly homeless woman in Hong Kong moves into the closet of a busy, lonely young man and secretly insinuates herself into his life, taking over for his negligent housekeeper and his emotionally distant girlfriend. A few stories are more experimental in form: For example, one moody story, "Accident," lasts only two pages, and "Wedding Night" unfolds for stretches in a series of single paragraphs, one per page, relaying images and poetrylike moments in the characters' lives. Are disconnection and loneliness inevitable side effects of modern life or of living in diaspora? These stories raise intriguing questions but do not attempt any simple answers. These eight stories highlight the lives of lonely people with empathy.

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September 1, 2019
As cofounding (with Dave Eggers) executive director of the human rights and oral history organization, Voice of Witness, Lok channels her intimate observation of human relationships into an astute first story collection. The titular story features a dual narrative of extreme circumstances as experienced by a teenage daughter who's assaulted in 1980s England and dovetailed with her mother's tribulations as a girl in 1941 Hong Kong as WWII looms. Most affecting is The Woman in the Closet, about an elderly woman who, discarded by her son and daughter-in-law, wanders through successive homeless tent villages until furtively settling into the closet of an oblivious stranger's home. Other standouts include The Wrong Dave, in which an engaged British architect begins receiving emails from a wedding crasher he met briefly in Hong Kong and who might have mistaken him for someone else. Dave's fianc�e may or may not be the same Mayling in Bad Influence, which is about an estranged brother's overnight reunion with his sister. Through eight provocative stories, Lok's sharp gaze transforms disconnection and longing with compelling results.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

November 4, 2019
Lok’s impressive debut spills over with the diasporic voices of women displaced, disconnected, and discarded. From WWII Hong Kong to the streets of
California over the last few decades, readers sail through various time periods, locales, and even genres. In the title story, a young girl, frightened by a stalker, is taught to defend herself by her quiet mother, who trained as a warrior during WWII in Hong Kong. As the young girl grows stronger, her mother finds the warrior within that she abandoned years ago. In “Wedding Night,” Lok uses an almost poemlike format—pages with one small phrase or paragraph on each—as readers witness the inner thoughts of a young couple on their wedding night, and learn of the past betrayal between them. And in the collection’s piece de resistance, “The Woman in the Closet,” readers follow Granny Ng, an elderly woman whose son wants to place her in an abusive nursing home. Instead, she escapes, first living in homeless encampments before sneaking into a young professional’s home, living in his closest for a year, and secretly cleaning and cooking for him. In all her stories, Lok is an expert at peeking into the souls of those who have been displaced or disregarded: through war, neglect, and even lost love. Seemingly simple yet deep in heart, this touching collection is easy to pick up and hard to put down.