Publishers Weekly
After her magazine career craters, Isabelle Lee, the narrator of Mah’s super sharp debut, leaves New York to reconnect with her family roots in China. Her familiarity with the language and culture limited to “kitchen Chinese,” Isabelle lands a job at a magazine for the expatriate community in Beijing and finds a circle of friends. However, her relationship with her big-shot attorney sister, Claire, who’s lived in China for a while, gets off to a rocky start, with the two not knowing quite what to make of each other. Isabelle’s Beijing immersion, coupled with her chick lit arc, provides a refreshing and fun narrative, helped along by a fantastic heroine whose insights into modern China and the expatriate experience will intrigue readers. It’s a great start for a writer with much promise. (Feb.)
Jen Lin-Liu
With a light, self-deprecating touch, Ann Mah portrays the quirks, pleasures, and surprises of life as a young Chinese-American woman finding her way in an alien motherland.
Irina Reyn
Suffused with humor, genuine warmth, and mouth-watering culinary descriptions, Kitchen Chinese is, first and foremost, about the adventure of self-discovery.
Rachel DeWoskin
A story of how we find and nourish ourselves in unexpected ways and places, so delicious that I took breaks from reading only to dash to the phone and order Chinese.
Patricia Wells
Ann Mah’s richly detailed Kitchen Chinese is humorous enough to make you laugh out loud, and so delicious you are sure to begin craving Peking duck and dim sum. A true tale of reinventing oneself in a new and foreign world.
Booklist on Kitchen Chinese
The vibrant depiction of Beijing, lush descriptions of sumptuous Chinese meals, and Isabelle’s struggle with how others perceive her distinguish Mah’s first novel.
Claire Cook
Ann Mah’s Kitchen Chinese is a delicious debut novel, seasoned with just the right balance of humor and heart, and sprinkled with fascinating cultural tidbits. Read thoroughly. Share with friends.
Romantic Times
Splendid....Warm and humorous.
Booklist
The vibrant depiction of Beijing, lush descriptions of sumptuous Chinese meals, and Isabelle’s struggle with how others perceive her distinguish Mah’s first novel.
AUGUST 2017 - AudioFile
Narrator Emily Woo Zeller’s diverse accents set an international stage for this story about finding a sense of belonging. Zeller’s softened tones bring out Isabelle Lee’s loss of self-confidence when she’s fired from her job. She decides to go to China, where she reconnects with her sister and explores her heritage and her identity as a Chinese-American. Zeller conjures the cultural melting pot of China and fluidly delivers the voices and accents of Australians, Americans, and Chinese. Her pronunciation is spot-on when speaking Mandarin and Cantonese, and without exaggeration she captures the accents and intonations of Chinese characters who are speaking English. Zeller’s solid performance showcases a touching and thought- provoking story. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
