Leftover in China: The Women Shaping the World's Next Superpower

by Roseann Lake Narrated by Janet Song

Overview

Forty years ago in China, marriage was universal, compulsory, and a woman's only means to a livelihood. Enter the one-child policy, which despite its horrors, resulted in China's first generations of urban only-daughters—girls who were raised without brothers and pushed to study, achieve, and succeed as if they were sons. Fast forward to the present, where in an urbanized economic powerhouse, enough of these women have decided to postpone marriage—or not marry at all—to spawn a label: "leftovers." Unprecedentedly well-educated and goal-oriented, they struggle to find partners in a society where gender roles have not evolved as vigorously as the society itself. Part critique of China's paternalistic ideals, part playful portrait of the romantic travails of China's trailblazing women, Roseann Lake's Leftover in China employs colorful anecdotes, hundreds of interviews, and rigorous historical and demographic research to show how the "leftovers" are the ultimate linchpin to China's future.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

12/11/2017
Lake, an American journalist who lived in China for five years, explores dating and marriage from the perspective of single Chinese women in their mid- to late 20s who are well-educated and financially successful. Known as sheng nü (literally, leftover women), their unmarried status is due in part to shifting demographics that resulted from four decades under the one-child policy. In the past, couples living in urban areas were more likely than those in rural areas to raise daughters, while rural families counted on sons to tend their farms (and were therefore more likely to undergo sex-selective abortions). Consequently, there are more 20-something women than men, and the women tend to have had more resources growing up and have more education and experience in the globalized economy. In addition to supplying plenty of sociological data, Lake includes the personal stories of women she met while working in China, such as Zhang Mei, who considers hiring a fake boyfriend to take home for the holidays, and Ivy, a woman who prefers to date married men. Lake takes a refreshingly optimistic approach to this subject, discussing the ways that Chinese culture can be recalibrated to better encourage and appreciate these young women. The result is an invigorating account of China’s rapidly changing culture, told from the perspective a particularly unique segment of the population. (Feb.)

author of Buy Me the Sky Xinran

"As a Chinese woman, I can feel and hear Chinese women’s minds and voices radiating through Leftover in China. It conveys a powerful message that encapsulates and epitomizes today’s rapidly changing China."

Helen Fisher

"What a fascinating book. Roseann Lake captures China’s tense sociopolitical climate today, as their ancient, deeply rooted traditions, values and beliefs about sex, romance, and marriage clash with the powerful current trend toward individualism in this dedicated collectivist society. The aftershocks of the ‘one-child’ policy; Chinese women entering the market in droves; today’s antiquated Chinese courtship codes; this book depicts the profound global shift in human family life with elegance, clarity, insight, humor, and verve. It’s a great read."

Kate Bolick

"If you think dating in twenty-first-century America is confusing, read Roseann Lake’s fascinating survey of singlehood and marriage in China, where seismic shifts have rendered the social landscape virtually unrecognizable. Packed with lively interviews and fascinating historical details, Leftover in China is vivid, generous, and illuminating."

Library Journal - Audio

08/01/2018
With a superb blend of historical, cultural, socioeconomic reportage, and plenty of engaging real-life stories, The Economist's Cuba correspondent Lake alchemizes her five years in Beijing into a lively first book about the fate and future of China's accomplished, independent, powerful—and unmarried—women. Over the last three decades, China has exploded into "an urbanized, globalized, economic superpower." Privileged by education and opportunity, Chinese women "are entering the white-collar workforce in numbers that rival and surpass those of men" and choosing to delay, even forgo, marriage. Growth and progress haven't bypassed tradition, however, ensuring "marriage retains the equivalent social force of a steamroller," making single women over 25 sheng nü, literally "leftover women." Eschewing permanent commitment, urban women today take lovers, become mistresses, and consider international partners. "Leftovers" aren't unique to China, Lake adds, as she examines Japanese, Korean, and Singaporean equivalents as well. VERDICT Disappointingly, Lake's enlightening achievement suffers in the audio format with narrator Janet Song, who sounds as if she's about to burst into tears. For improved literary absorption, choose the page. ["An interesting read for the layperson and a useful book for scholars of everything from gender studies to economics, opening up Chinese culture in a way that is engaging and informational": LJ 1/18 review of the Norton hc.]—Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC

MAY 2018 - AudioFile

Janet Song narrates the author’s explanation of a unique Chinese social phenomenon—significant numbers of educated, single Chinese women who are choosing independence over marriages defined by traditional gender roles. The Chinese government's one-child policy created long-standing gender inequality. As this imbalance grew, so did, for the first time, the number of only female children whose parents chose to raise them with resources previously given to boys. Song moves seamlessly between research data and anecdotes, expertly guiding the listener from past to present through four case studies. The women at the heart of the book serve to represent the millions of Chinese women who are not ideal partners for men raised with traditional expectations of marriage. M.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-11-14
A revealing look at some of the women who are changing the way China operates.For thousands of years, the woman's role in China was to marry young and produce and raise offspring. In today's China, that tradition remains deeply embedded, so much so that women find themselves torn between two aspects of their culture: they want to honor their heritage and please their parents by marrying and giving them grandchildren while also seeking a higher education, a well-paying job, and, ultimately, independence. Using numerous interviews and solid research, Economist Cuba correspondent Lake, who used to be based in Beijing, provides a timely, behind-the-scenes look at several women who are currently straddling the marriage/nonmarriage line, women who have reached their 30s and are therefore "leftover"—i.e., beyond a suitable age for marriage and childbearing. The author studies the role of mistresses in Chinese culture and the way foreigners and foreign educations have both helped and hindered Chinese women. She also examines the extreme effect the one-child policy had on the country; during a 30-plus-year period, millions of female fetuses were aborted, leaving fewer women available for possible marriage. Furthermore, one-child girls were pushed to succeed as if they were sons, a situation that has created tension when these women do succeed. Throughout the narrative, the author explores themes of marriage and traditions and the challenges these new, educated, sophisticated Chinese women face as they search for possible mates at work, on dating sites, and through blind dates arranged by their parents. Lake expertly explains how many Chinese men don't want wives who are well-educated and high-achieving, making it even more difficult for successful women to find life partners.A solid debut book providing intriguing insights into the current state of China's sociocultural system.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171417352
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	02/13/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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