Kitchen Chinese....a must read!

I am so proud of my sorority sister I'm about to burst my buttons. Ann Mah is a freelance journalist based in Paris. Her first novel, set to hit the bookstores in February (but you can pre-order NOW), it's already getting rave reviews from some of the culinary world's most esteemed authors.

“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.”

–Patricia Wells, author of We’ll Always Have Paris… and Provence

A brief description of the novel from Ann's blog...

After a career-ending catastrophe, Isabelle Lee leaves the magazine world of New York for the magazine world of Beijing, one that’s considerably more limited given her rudimentary knowledge of Chinese. Despite being Chinese-American, Isabelle only knows the kind of Chinese that is spoken in the kitchen.

Fortunately, this includes the language of food, and soon Isabelle immerses herself in Peking duck and Mongolian hot pot, when she’s not engulfed in pea-soup pollution and culture shock. There’s also the challenge of reacquainting herself with her older sister, Claire, now a high-powered lawyer living the expat lifestyle. But as she learns more about Claire, Isabelle begins to suspect she’s not the only who’s run away to China.

After many moments of cultural confusion, Isabelle can’t help but wonder if moving to Beijing was a mistake. Or is this frenetic, vibrant city of the future the perfect place to figure out who she really is?

I hope you'll share in my enthusiasm and go buy Ann's book! Goodness knows, it's tough times these days for writers...and with the fall of Gourmet Magazine, food writers in particular. But, of course, this isn't just a novel about food, it's about life's challenges, family relationships, and self discovery....I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!