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Excess Baggage
Excess Baggage chronicles two Chinese sisters, one raised in China during the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution; the other in Japan during the freewheeling years of bubble capitalism. They reunite as adults in Tokyo in the early 1990s and their family history soon catches up with them.
Zhang Peiyin, the "forgotten" sister left behind in China, is hell-bent on making up for lost time after growing up with little more than political slogans and has abandoned her children to join her family in Japan, imagining riches, fame, and comfort. Instead she receives a wary welcome from her estranged parents and insecure, competitive younger sister, Vivian, who not-so-secretly wants to drive her back to China.
As the sisters circle warily, navigating their mother's death and other setbacks, their distrust grows, fueled by family lies and secrets. Ultimately each must confront a fundamental question: what's the meaning of home when your roots aren't secure?
Zhang Peiyin, the "forgotten" sister left behind in China, is hell-bent on making up for lost time after growing up with little more than political slogans and has abandoned her children to join her family in Japan, imagining riches, fame, and comfort. Instead she receives a wary welcome from her estranged parents and insecure, competitive younger sister, Vivian, who not-so-secretly wants to drive her back to China.
As the sisters circle warily, navigating their mother's death and other setbacks, their distrust grows, fueled by family lies and secrets. Ultimately each must confront a fundamental question: what's the meaning of home when your roots aren't secure?
344 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
456 people want to read
About the author
Karen Ma
4 books6 followersKaren Ma was born in China, raised in Hong Kong and Japan, and educated in the U.S. She holds a M.A in Chinese Literature from the University of Washington (Seattle, U.S.) and is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.
Formerly a news reporter for Kyodo News and NHK Radio Japan, she has also written for The International Herald Tribune, New York News Day, The Japan Times, Kyoto Journal, South China Morning Post and the Delhi-based Mint. She is also the author of the non-fiction book, The Modern Madame Butterfly: Fantasy and Reality of Japanese Cross-cultural Relationships (1996 Charles E. Tuttle)
She currently teaches Mandarin Chinese at an international school in New Delhi, India. She lives with her husband and their two children.
Formerly a news reporter for Kyodo News and NHK Radio Japan, she has also written for The International Herald Tribune, New York News Day, The Japan Times, Kyoto Journal, South China Morning Post and the Delhi-based Mint. She is also the author of the non-fiction book, The Modern Madame Butterfly: Fantasy and Reality of Japanese Cross-cultural Relationships (1996 Charles E. Tuttle)
She currently teaches Mandarin Chinese at an international school in New Delhi, India. She lives with her husband and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 13, 2016
This is, for me, a "so glad I read it" book. It's a story about a dysfunctional Chinese family now living in Japan. There's so much sadness and misunderstanding you quickly become drawn into this story because you want to know that things will get better.
The parents emigrate to Hong Kong and eventually to Tokyo but are only permitted to take two of their three children with them. The mother hopes to return for her eldest daughter in a few years but this does not happen. The eldest daughter is only eight but she is sacrificed for the betterment of the family and so our story begins with great sadness and the tragedy of a child being left behind.
The story flashes back and forth in time from the past to the present when the eldest daughter, as an adult is finally reunited with her mother and siblings. Resentment and a lack of understanding between Pei the elder sister and Vivien the younger sister fuels much of this story. Each sister sees only their own side of what is happening now and what happened in the past. Pei feeling she is owned something because she was abandoned although she herself has abandoned her twin sons and Vivien struggling in her own career resents being obligated to help her sister when she cannot help herself. The mother feels defeated in her efforts to makeup to Pei for what happened because Pei won't express her feelings or desires to anyone. The father has started a new life away from the family but supplies money to Pei for her schooling but choses to remain outside the family.
This is a story really of two sisters who have to learn how to be sisters and care for each other after so many years of being apart. They are finally reunited in sadness and reach out for each other.
This is such a good book. The characters are painted in such a way that you like and dislike them both at the same time. You will identify with the struggles of both sisters to find themselves in a country that is not their own and where they are not really accepted and are both trying to find what they want their lives to be.
I won this book in a First Reads giveaway.
The parents emigrate to Hong Kong and eventually to Tokyo but are only permitted to take two of their three children with them. The mother hopes to return for her eldest daughter in a few years but this does not happen. The eldest daughter is only eight but she is sacrificed for the betterment of the family and so our story begins with great sadness and the tragedy of a child being left behind.
The story flashes back and forth in time from the past to the present when the eldest daughter, as an adult is finally reunited with her mother and siblings. Resentment and a lack of understanding between Pei the elder sister and Vivien the younger sister fuels much of this story. Each sister sees only their own side of what is happening now and what happened in the past. Pei feeling she is owned something because she was abandoned although she herself has abandoned her twin sons and Vivien struggling in her own career resents being obligated to help her sister when she cannot help herself. The mother feels defeated in her efforts to makeup to Pei for what happened because Pei won't express her feelings or desires to anyone. The father has started a new life away from the family but supplies money to Pei for her schooling but choses to remain outside the family.
This is a story really of two sisters who have to learn how to be sisters and care for each other after so many years of being apart. They are finally reunited in sadness and reach out for each other.
This is such a good book. The characters are painted in such a way that you like and dislike them both at the same time. You will identify with the struggles of both sisters to find themselves in a country that is not their own and where they are not really accepted and are both trying to find what they want their lives to be.
I won this book in a First Reads giveaway.
February 26, 2018
So many misunderstandings in this family. Promises are made to a young girl that the mother would return to get her soon. She is left in care of her relatives in the country. Time passes and the family cannot keep the promise. The little girl pines for her mother and family and slowly grows bitter from being abandoned. Sometimes the problem is money, other time it is politics.
Each sister envies the other one and no one is really happy. Finally the older sister is able to join the mother and younger sister and brother in the city, and the misunderstandings continue.
My heart bleeds for each of the characters as they struggle to work their way thru the strong feelings that arise as life throws it's worst at them.
Each sister envies the other one and no one is really happy. Finally the older sister is able to join the mother and younger sister and brother in the city, and the misunderstandings continue.
My heart bleeds for each of the characters as they struggle to work their way thru the strong feelings that arise as life throws it's worst at them.
December 4, 2017
The plot of this book sounded interesting and clever, catchy, but the writing was incredibly hideous. The characters were so superficial and stupid, I absolutely hated them and the author after the first two chapters. So I threw the book down. Zero. (Just noticed this writer's native language is not English. ...May be a partial explanation.)
October 14, 2013
I enjoyed this book for a variety of reasons. First, the author is a friends sister in law. I love to read books where there is a connection to the author. In this digital age, I love being able to read books written by people I know or know through someone else. I find it fascinating that people find the courage, stamina and faith to write a book or books!
Second, I found the issue of leaving a daughter to be raised by family in China very interesting, since only 4 family members could move to Hong Kong. The entire cultural aspect of this book and the issues with that families were separated and often not reunited, or reunited decades later was something I know nothing about. So reading about this and the cultural differences between China and Japan were educational.
Third, the bitterness that arises within both sisters because each felt the other received special treatment, and the issues that are bound to happen when siblings feel this way made for a very compelling story. I find it can happen even when siblings aren't separated. But as children, we often perceive things that aren't necessarily fact because adults want to try and protect us. Often due to this adult interference, those children grow up to have more issues and more bitterness than if the adults had just been honest. I think this happens in many families, not just families who have had such a hardship. It's a good lesson to learn both for adults and for children to perhaps look at tough things in life a little differently.
Second, I found the issue of leaving a daughter to be raised by family in China very interesting, since only 4 family members could move to Hong Kong. The entire cultural aspect of this book and the issues with that families were separated and often not reunited, or reunited decades later was something I know nothing about. So reading about this and the cultural differences between China and Japan were educational.
Third, the bitterness that arises within both sisters because each felt the other received special treatment, and the issues that are bound to happen when siblings feel this way made for a very compelling story. I find it can happen even when siblings aren't separated. But as children, we often perceive things that aren't necessarily fact because adults want to try and protect us. Often due to this adult interference, those children grow up to have more issues and more bitterness than if the adults had just been honest. I think this happens in many families, not just families who have had such a hardship. It's a good lesson to learn both for adults and for children to perhaps look at tough things in life a little differently.
December 19, 2013
I couldn't put this book down.
An intriguing and moving read that kept me completely riveted on the fascinating tale of the two sisters, Pei and Vivian, first divided by their parents as the family with one of the sisters migrated from China during the Cultural Revolution to HongKong and Japan, and after, forever divided by life's paths & experiences, and differing cultural norms/mores.
What particularly appealed to me about this page turner is Karen Ma's intimate and authentic characterization of the main protagonists- Pei and Vivian, and their mother. Ma's intimate portrayal of their characters and their unfolding drama kept drawing me along as a reader into the family history of deception, betrayal, jealousies, misconceived expectations and partial reconciliation in the end. And all this set against the backdrop of the Chinese diaspora in Japan and the journey to find their place in their adopted land.
The other main appeal to me personally is her study of the mores of migrant Asia- the good, the bad and the ugly. As a pilgrim undergoing my own journey and having lived in different countries, I can totally empathize with the characters' state of mind and being- and the effect on their separateness from their own country, culture and family.
The characters and their stories will stick with you for a long time. Read it this holiday season. Be ready to get warm and snug, and intrigued. I highly recommend it!
An intriguing and moving read that kept me completely riveted on the fascinating tale of the two sisters, Pei and Vivian, first divided by their parents as the family with one of the sisters migrated from China during the Cultural Revolution to HongKong and Japan, and after, forever divided by life's paths & experiences, and differing cultural norms/mores.
What particularly appealed to me about this page turner is Karen Ma's intimate and authentic characterization of the main protagonists- Pei and Vivian, and their mother. Ma's intimate portrayal of their characters and their unfolding drama kept drawing me along as a reader into the family history of deception, betrayal, jealousies, misconceived expectations and partial reconciliation in the end. And all this set against the backdrop of the Chinese diaspora in Japan and the journey to find their place in their adopted land.
The other main appeal to me personally is her study of the mores of migrant Asia- the good, the bad and the ugly. As a pilgrim undergoing my own journey and having lived in different countries, I can totally empathize with the characters' state of mind and being- and the effect on their separateness from their own country, culture and family.
The characters and their stories will stick with you for a long time. Read it this holiday season. Be ready to get warm and snug, and intrigued. I highly recommend it!
March 2, 2014
Karen Ma has written a page-turning story about a family torn apart by history. Peiyin is the oldest of three children. When her mother has a chance to leave their home in northern China to join the father in Hong Kong, she can only take two of her three children. As the oldest, Peiyin stays back. Her mother Yan assures Peiyin that she will return for her in a year or two. This is in the early 1960s, and as history would show, the Cultural Revolution put a halt to plans like the Zhang's. As the years passed, Peiyin realized her family wouldn't be coming back to get her. In fact, they moved from Hong Kong to Japan. Thirty years after being abandoned in China, Peiyin reunites with her family in Japan, all while leaving her young twin sons back in China with her ex-husband.
What follows is a fascinating look at Chinese immigrants in Japan; how families reunite after such a long absence; the tolls of a long distance marriage; and the issue of identity in a place that will never recognize immigrants as their own. Karen Ma doesn't pass judgement on Peiyin or her sister Vivian when the two clash in the months and years after Peiyin rejoins the family in Japan. She shows how it's difficult for established family members to welcome a newcomer, even when it's a sister. And likewise she demonstrates the difficulties new immigrants encounter, even in their own families.
What follows is a fascinating look at Chinese immigrants in Japan; how families reunite after such a long absence; the tolls of a long distance marriage; and the issue of identity in a place that will never recognize immigrants as their own. Karen Ma doesn't pass judgement on Peiyin or her sister Vivian when the two clash in the months and years after Peiyin rejoins the family in Japan. She shows how it's difficult for established family members to welcome a newcomer, even when it's a sister. And likewise she demonstrates the difficulties new immigrants encounter, even in their own families.
May 14, 2014
This novel about a Chinese family is quite interesting. From the very beginning of the story, it depicts a lot of the Chinese and Japanese history and traditions which I think makes it unique from the other books I’ve read. I also liked how this book highlighted about the importance of family. That there will be no one else in this world who will be willing to extend a hand to help us in our deepest times but our family.
Being an immigrant myself and relocating to 2 different countries, I was able to relate to a couple of characters as they adjust with the culture of a foreign land. I can say it’s hard but it’s also not easy. Sometimes, we just need to do what needs to be done for us to understand how things are meant to be, especially with our own family. Just like this dysfunctional family who may have made abrupt decisions in the beginning, not knowing exactly the effect on their bond as a family, but what’s important is that the hope of being a family again remained in them despite of the many struggles they encountered and their differences.
It may take a few hours, weeks, months, or even decades to realize the real meaning and purpose of some decisions we make, but this is how we learn. This, I consider one of the greatest mystery in life that we should not take for granted.
Being an immigrant myself and relocating to 2 different countries, I was able to relate to a couple of characters as they adjust with the culture of a foreign land. I can say it’s hard but it’s also not easy. Sometimes, we just need to do what needs to be done for us to understand how things are meant to be, especially with our own family. Just like this dysfunctional family who may have made abrupt decisions in the beginning, not knowing exactly the effect on their bond as a family, but what’s important is that the hope of being a family again remained in them despite of the many struggles they encountered and their differences.
It may take a few hours, weeks, months, or even decades to realize the real meaning and purpose of some decisions we make, but this is how we learn. This, I consider one of the greatest mystery in life that we should not take for granted.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews