SIGNAGE & WRAPS • DESIGN & INSTALLATION
TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | AUG 2019 13
BOOK
REVIEW
By Nell Klein
Searching for Sylvie Lee
By Jean Kwok
Several weeks ago, during my morning ritual of watching The Today Show,
Jenna Bush Hager (who replaced Kathy Lee Gifford) announced that she
had started a book club and the first book that she recommended was
Searching for Sylvie Lee. I was busy at the time so I didn’t hear all of her
comments, but in the end it sounded like a book that I wanted to try and
I’m so glad that I did. It was so engrossing that I couldn’t put it down and I
knew that I wanted to pass it on to the Beachcomber readers.
Sylvie is the eldest daughter of the Lee family. The family, which consists of
husband, wife and two daughters, Sylvie and Amy, immigrated to the United
States from China over thirty years ago. While the family has always lived
in New York, Sylvie was raised by her grandma in the Netherlands the first
nine years of her life. Although Sylvie returned to her parents when she
was nine, the time away had a lasting effect on her relationship with her
parents, but Sylvie had an unbreakable bond with her little sister Amy, who
was just two when she returned.
The story begins when Sylvie, who is married and is a successful
businesswoman, travels to the Netherlands to be with her aging grandma
in her final days and soon thereafter vanishes. Amy soon flies there to
find out what happened to her sister and hopefully bring her home. Amy
is convinced that Sylvie would never desert her or her family without so
much as a word and she is going to get to the bottom of the mystery. It is
told in alternating chapters by Sylvie (who speaks Dutch), Amy (who speaks
English) and Ma (who speaks Chinese). We soon learn that Sylvie and Amy
really don’t know their mother at all. They have no idea about her feelings,
her past or her anxiety about the future. We also feel for this family that has
tried to make a life for themselves in a new country and they have never
truly felt that they belong.
This book is full of all kinds of twists and unexpected surprises, deep family
secrets and a suspected hidden treasure that has passed down through the
ages from mother to daughter. There are long hidden feelings that collide
when the truth finally emerges.
This book absolutely captivated me! I haven’t been many places, but I
have been to Amsterdam and I could just picture the houses, canals and
hundreds of bicycles described in the book. I also loved all of the characters
in the book (well, all but one).
I give this book four roses, only because of a pretty bad typo that drove me
crazy that no one caught, but that’s just nitpicky me. I highly recommend
this book as it’s one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while.
So, until next time, have a great summer and read a book. If it’s a good
read, pass it on!
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