Bitter Melon by Cara Chow — 320 pgs

For Frances, a young Chinese-American girl who lives in a dilapidated apartment with her mother, the pressure to succeed and fulfill her mother’s dreams for her is almost too much to bear. Though Frances is an excellent student, her mother is constantly pushing her to more and more rigorous feats of academics, hoping that one day Frances will become a doctor and take care of her financially. But though her mother is ostensibly looking out for Frances’ welfare, she can be very abusive and demeaning. At times, it’s all Frances can do not to give up when her mother repeatedly attacks her, both physically and emotionally. When a mistake is made with Frances’ schedule during senior year, she finds herself taking a speech class instead of the calculus class she needs to get into Berkley. Frances decides to remain in the class, and finds the class and its related competitions are the one safe haven for a girl who is trying to make her way against the heavy strictures of her mother. Soon Frances is lying and enlisting the help of her best friend to hide the fact that she’s competing in speech tournaments. Will Frances ever be free of her manipulative and cruel mother, or will she eventually bend and succumb to forces that seem stronger and stronger everyday? In this stunning and perceptive work of fiction, Cara Chow brings us the life of girl who’s desperate to escape the power of her all-consuming and abusive mother, and shares the triumphs and defeats she faces on her journey towards freedom.

When I was initially pitched this book, the publicist mentioned the story had a lot in common with that very controversial non-fiction work, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Though I haven’t read the book, I’ve certainly read about the controversy it sparked, and found that this book did indeed have a lot of the same hallmarks as Battle Hymn. It was a tough read, and while at first I didn’t see the problem with the behavior of Frances’ mother, her misbehavior grew exponentially until I could no longer stand her and I was desperate to see Frances free herself of her mother’s poisonous influence.

Part of the reason Frances wasn’t able to defend herself against her mother’s tirades and abuse was because she had been instilled with a sense of family loyalty, and because her mother touted the belief that she should always be honored, respected and obeyed. It was hard for Frances to believe her mother didn’t have her best interest at heart, and the constant put-downs and debasement had a very negative effect on her self esteem. I couldn’t believe her mother was so nasty and caustic when it came to belittling her daughter and I found it repugnant that her sole motivation for pushing Frances into medical school was her own self-interest. When Frances begins to strike out on her own, her mother seems to always be one step ahead of her and soon discovers that Frances isn’t following the directions that have been set for her. This leads to more acrimonious abuse and name calling, and I began to despair for Frances and the horrible life she had to lead. Another component of the problem was that Frances and her mother were isolated from most of the community and had very little outside influence with which to temper themselves. Shutting out the rest of society, Frances’ mother kept her alienated and afraid, unable to go to anyone for the help she so desperately needed.

When Frances breaks out of her shell and begins to compete in speech competitions, she really begins to flower, both emotionally and socially, but all her advancements must be hidden from her jealous and controlling mother. As she becomes more and more enveloped in speech, she’s mentored by a teacher who cares for her and encourages her, giving Frances a sense of self worth that even her mother can’t take away. Eventually, of course, there is a showdown, and Frances’ mother becomes not only violent and abusive but painfully self-serving and controlling. It’s up to Frances to break away from her mother and into the kind of life she wants to lead, and though she’s only spreading her wings into adulthood, her mother mistakes her independence for betrayal. As Frances steps away from her mother’s influence, I cheered for her and got completely invested in her struggle to be free from the oppression that her mother so diligently presses upon her. It’s the journey from battered and abused child to free young woman that captivated me and kept me turning the pages.

I’m not sure this book directly parallels Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother because where one speaks of control and subservience in the mother/child relationship, the other speaks of unspeakable cruelty and abuse committed in a relationship that is in some ways supposed to be sacred. The book did remind me a little bit of Girl In Translation because both dealt with the relationship between a Chinese mother and daughter, and both highlighted the fallout caused by high academic and social expectations perpetrated by Chinese mothers. Girl in Translation differs because it didn’t feature abuse and manipulation on the maternal side, and I found that by introducing this concept into the story, the emotional component was heightened by several degrees. Though it was an uncomfortable story to read, it was realistic and at times very angering.

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This book was provided as a complimentary review copy.