Wooing Wu is a classic love story. First, mix one poet/teacher in his forties, twice divorced, and gun shy when it comes to commitment and then add a beautiful Chinese immigrant. Throw in cultural differences, false hopes, and misunderstandings, add the usual assortment of friends, whiskey, steamed flounder, and a night of karaoke and you have a New York love story like no other.
Of the four Leonard Durso novels I’ve read so far, I like this one best. It touches familiar themes and characters, but maybe because there are fewer of them, it seems to go deeper. Three interesting questions are asked: Will any immigrant ever bring the two halves of her or his life before and after their move together? Will a twice divorced American man ever get marriage right? What happens when a woman working out the first question meets a man quietly drinking through the second? You’ll enjoy finding out for yourself.