A Sheltered Woman

by Yiyun Li, Laurence Bouvard (Reading)

Auntie Mei is a live-in nanny for newborns and their mothers. She has worked for a hundred and twenty-six families and looked after a hundred and thirty-one babies, one set of clients easily replaced by the next. But the hundred and thirty-second baby and his mother Chanel prompts a crisis in Auntie Mei's life - a tremor that threatens to destroy her resolute detachment.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, China, Asian Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction

Audiobook

First published March 10, 2014

About the author

Yiyun Li is the author of seven books, including Where Reasons End, which received the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award; the essay collection Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life; and the novels The Vagrants and Must I Go. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, and Windham-Campbell Prize, among other honors. A contributing editor to A Public Space, she teaches at Princeton University.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Auntie Mei really doesn’t like children, but she works as a nanny looking after newborns for the first month of their lives, before moving (without regret) on to the next family, and she never gets close to either the baby or the parents.

“She had, unlike her mother and her grandmother, talked herself into being a woman with an ordinary fate. When she moved on to the next place, she would leave no mystery or damage behind; no one in this world would be disturbed by having known her.''

Short but beautifully written, with Auntie Mei being a particularly interesting character.

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deals with the story of Aunt Mei, who works as a live-in nanny for newborns. She now works for a young mother who is struggling with postpartum depression. The author marvelously describes postpartum depression and mother's difficulty in looking after their children.

"Death does not take the dead away; it only makes them grow more deeply into you."

[Greta G · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Fortunate are those for whom everyone can be turned into a stranger.”

Auntie Mei works as a live-in-nanny for newborns and their mothers. As a rule, she moves out of the family’s house the day the baby turns a month old. She doesn’t want to get attached to the infants.
”When she moved on to the next place, she would leave no mystery or damage behind; no one in this world would be disturbed by having known her.”

Auntie Mei currently works for a new, young mother who doesn’t care much for her baby and seems to have a postpartum depression. On top of that, the family’s repairman takes an interest in her.
This puts Auntie Mei, who has learned to shelter herself from worldly reproach, in a difficult position.

”Auntie Mei wondered if knowing someone - a friend, an enemy - was like never letting that person out of one’s sight. Being known, then, must not be far from being imprisoned by someone else’s thought.”

(Short story, available on https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award Winner 2015).

[Moha Dem · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A short story about a nanny who works only the first month of the newborn, really funny.

[Patience ~ AnotherOddCreature シ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4✨ A short and simple, yet moving, story! Slightly funny too 😆.

[Kin · Rating 4 out of 5]

really short, but so beautiful.

[Bernice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to say this is a good piece on motherhood, but Aunt Mei steals the show.

Story available to read on The New Yorker.

[Milan/zzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

"death does not take the dead away; it only makes them grow more deeply into you"

I must say I didn't expect I'll like this short story as much as I did. It's a really good characterization and not only of the mail character but also those who plays episodes even if they appear in a single sentence. Really, really good. The main story is interesting all right but the side stories are what I liked more. Definitively worth reading.

[Aoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enemy could be as eternally close as a friend; a feud could make two men brothers for life.

Quotable quotes for miles on end .. Haunting, superb characterization in just 16 pages.

Fortunate are those for whom everyone can be turned into a stranger

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful package. I really enjoyed the story and found her style so unique to other short story writers.

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been interested in this short story for a while and decided to listen to it on audiobook through BookBeat. 

Despite being the equivalent of just 52 pages, there was a depth and a tension in this story that kept me intrigued from being to end. Auntie Mei is an enigmatic figure who is at times poignant as well as hilarious. There was no plot as such but the story was an interesting study of these characters and their experience as Chinese Americans. 

Overall I really enjoyed this short story but I feel that it could be a whole novel or at least a novella. I would recommend this to anyone looking to read more diverse fiction and that enjoy quiet stories.

[Azrul · Rating 4 out of 5]

"An enemy could be as eternally close as a friend; a feud could make two men brothers for life."

A thoughtful short story that can easily be finished in one sitting. Auntie Mei is a nanny who takes cares new mothers and their firstborn for only the first month, and then she moves on to the next place, the next client. Until she meets a mother who doesn't seem to care much about her baby.

Although the ending is a bit open (hence a lil bit less satisfying for me), the storytelling of the book is wonderful.

[Author-ization · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the simple, plain writing and will definitely consider reading more of Yiyun Li's work in the future.
But the big question is: Did Auntie Mei decide to steal Baby? *X-Files music plays*

[Lynai · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Yiyun Li and I like how she depicts deep emotions without being melodramatic. More thoughts soon.

[Stephy Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a wonderful story told in a unique style. Aunt MEI is amazing. But I felt that the story ended abruptly. I was expecting more

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3*

A fantastic short story

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I rarely feel this way about short stories but I actually wish this was longer. Auntie Mei was wonderful.

[Sara]

After parting i see how the life spoiled us
but my ask where he is
the memory alowyes came
my heart grow wonded
maybe didnt think that his prisnice or parting same
but life realy spolid us and pet me more
i think after parting i come to be gd
but the talking just talking
and yr absince just imgination
yr death grow in me
how can i hide every moment the wind come
how i cant remmber y
the death have great weght
i didnt want from y hear me and see me
i want to feal my heart
and dilet the pasw
once i hide y in my eyes
even y grow in me more than newbornbaby
i just want feal my heart
i hate distance
if y chose death dont live me to echo
i am hungry to yr breath
my heart heart

[Shreya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style of the author was brilliant however quite unsure of the ending.

[Ema Abdelqadir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovering a little bit about postpartum depression with Auntie Mei...

[Thompson McDaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well told tale with some “really nice” twists on intergenerational relationships and stereotypes of romance, parenting and what it means to live the “good life”

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short read. There are so many layers to Auntie Mei. The story an unusual, interesting and disturbing story line.

"...no one in this world would be disturbed by having known her." The story left me a bit disturbed and not forgetting Auntie Mei at all.

[Maiya Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Auntie Mei doesn’t like children but takes care of babies for a living. Chanel doesn’t like motherhood and hired Auntie Mei to help. Their interactions with each other are viscerally cloying. Yiyun Li’s background is also super fascinating!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely short story about a woman who works as a nanny and nursing coach for only the first month of a baby's life.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

''If knowing someone makes that person stay with you forever, not knowing someone does the same trick: death does not take the dead away; it only makes them grow more deeply into you.''
This is one of the best short stories I've ever read. It's not really because of what's happening in the story, it's because of the quotes. It's a short story, so you can't really get to know the characters well. I think this story could have been a best-seller if it was novel. Definitely would have liked if it was longer.
''You know what I hate about people? They like to say, 'That will teach you a lesson.' But what's the point of a lesson? There's no makeup exam when you fail something in life.''
Chanel was quite an interesting character. Even though she is your typical stupid girl marrying for money, there's something different about her.
''She had, unlike her mother and her grandmother, talked herself into being a woman with an ordinary fate. When she moved on to the next place, she would leave no mystery or damage behind; no one in this world would be disturbed by having known her.''

[Sarah Hsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's haunting.. one of my favorite short stories so far.

Came to this short story after seeing that it was the winner of the Sunday Times Short Story Award and after reading Li's novel "Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life". Would highly recommend if you enjoy authors like Celeste Ng or other contemporary female AsAm writers

"Auntie Mei came from a line of women who could not understand themselves, and in not knowing themselves they had derailed their men and orphaned their children. At least Auntie Mei had had the sense not to have a child..."

"She was getting older, more forgetful, yet she was also closer to comprehending the danger of being herself. She had, unlike her mother and her grandmother, talked herself into being a woman with an ordinary fate. When she moved on to the next place, she would leave no mystery or damage behind; no one in this world would be disturbed by having known her."

[Hoda Marmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautiful short story reads in one sitting. I enjoyed how well crafted the plot and characters are. This is a story about how one grand daughter is torn between the dramatic extraordinary world of her mother and grandmother, and the ordinary world she yearns for. How can one lead an abstract life? How can one be sheltered from or by the past? How much are we haunted by the people we never really understood or knew? How close are our enemies to us?
This story opened up a million questions in my head. Li is an awesome writer!

[Nurul · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is a good companion for my 3.5 hours train ride even though i finished reading in less than 30 minutes.

about the story:- there were so many things packed beautifully in such a thin book. it is interesting to see how the main character, the baby sitter try to remain detached yet being affected from the same thing she want to be sheltered from; her surrounding and her childhood experiences.

[Saruul Gan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 1st story of Yiyun Li and definitely going to read more of her. I liked how she portrayed deep emotions, the preciseness of her writing, and story leaving little doubt after you read. I read this after skimming some of the reviews from people, who basically concluded the piece as an unfinished one. But after giving a try, it was completely different for me.

[GZwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm happy that, like everyone else, you'll all become the past soon. P40

Fortunate are those for whom everyone can be turned into a stranger P42

If knowing someone makes that person stay with you forever, not knowing someone does the same trick: death does not take the dead away; it only makes them grow more deeply into you. P46