Mona in the Promised Land

by Gish Jen

From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Thank You, Mr. Nixon comes a “hilariously funny and seriously important” novel (Amy Tan) about American multiculturalism and a Chinese American teenager doing her best to fit in–even if it means converting to Judaism.

In these pages, acclaimed author Gish Jen introduces us to teenaged Mona Chang, who in 1968 moves with her newly prosperous family to Scarshill, New York. Here, the Chinese are seen as "the new Jews." What could be more natural than for Mona to take this literally—even to the point of converting? As Mona attends temple "rap" sessions and falls in love (with a nice Jewish boy who lives in a tepee), Jen introduces us to one of the most charming and sweet-spirited heroines in recent fiction, a girl who can wisecrack with perfect aplomb even when she's organizing the help in her father's pancake house. On every page, Gish Jen sets our received notions spinning with a wit as dry as a latter-day Jane Austen's.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Asian American, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Coming Of Age, China

303 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Gish Jen grew up in New York, where she spoke more Yiddish than Chinese. She has been featured in a PBS American Masters program on the American novel. Her distinctions also include a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, a Fulbright fellowship, and a Radcliffe Institute fellowship. She was awarded a Lannan Literary Prize in 1999 and received a Harold and Mildred Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2003. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009, she has published in the New Yorker and other magazines.

John Updike selected a story of Jen's for The Best American Short Stories of The Century. Her newest book, Tiger Writing, is based on the Massey Lectures in the History of American Civilization, which she delivered at Harvard University in 2012.

Reviews

[Margaret]

I have mixed feelings about this book. It started out slowly and took a while to get my attention. Although I found it interesting it seems like it was not always about Mona and the cultural differences on being a Chinese-American or becoming Jewish but sometimes was more of a statement on society in America in the 70's with sub-threads touching on racism and black power. I agree with msjoanna in that the ending was not well thought out and it seemed like the author said, "Well, I guess I better just end this now." Also the epilogue did not make sense to me either except as a convenient method for the author to make sure all loose ends were wrapped up for the reader.
Still, all in all not a bad read

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Gish Jen. She is my new favorite writer. Not because she's perfect, but because she is so funny and she creates such believable characters and she paces her books (the two I've read, at least) so well. Her books are fun to read, but also really thought-provoking. She makes you think about what it means to be American, to be part of a melting pot/stew, to be able to choose your own identity.

Mona is a Chinese American teenager in 1970 (or so) who decides to convert to Judaism. Her parents aren't so much down with this plan, and neither are some of the Jews at her temple.

The ending loses some momentum, but that doesn't really detract from an otherwise delightful reading experience.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant prose.

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gish Jen is pretty good compared to the other "Chinese-" and or "Chinese" (hyphenated implying china diaspora) writers in that she sort of resembles a gushy optimistic reese witherspoon blonde who just happens to be writing about the Chinese-American experience whereas Amy Tan and some other Chinese writers are writing distinctly in the Chinese aesthetic sensibility.



I double-lucky wind jade song having experienced famine, rape, prosperity, betrayal and adultery now have all the answers to life itself

like stifle the vomit reflex already.

or like, the English writer David Mitchell can imitate this voice/aesthetic in his writing but no middle class Chinese grandmother can imitate the voice of an upper-mid Englishman. so we see the hiearchy of knowledge at least

or fine, state it out directly, we see the hierarchy of cultures.

-------------

or okay, I'm speed writing this in between last minute data downloads and tool acquisition. like MAYBE I didn't need to jett off to oxfordshire or maybe i did. abingdon or anywhere therabouts, to be pushed by the absolute need for green following a week on cold concrete.

god your mind just dissolves.

politicals-- possibly English Republicans, possibly anarchists, possibly international revolutionary-connected. i am betting on concentric cirlces, you know, the whole council housing thingn leading to third worlders leading to inner circleism. i got cash in pocket and an email confirmation from Camden. tomorrow: nobody knows

first day first day first day


29 January 2014

word salad mind dissolution thing is real, related to sleep deprivation and twin assaults of corporate training in the a.m., radical politicism in the evening. the cold feel of concrete on your cheek; all the analysis that goes into meeting dangerous people, who can say how things are defined, or why?

if I were an English Republican, I'd keep myself hidden too. there's no absolute saying what an England without the monarchy would look like, although presumably it'd be very different from the current situation. quite possibly anti-British in tone (trying to kick Scotland out, rather than the current sentiment of keeping Britain Great.) die Anglischers Volksbund would probably be an amalgmum of anti-EU, maybe even US-isolationist sentiments. can't decide for certain.

Camden digs: okay. at least all on the credit card, if possibly not perfectly situated. still, I find my thoughts trending back to that week, if not necessarily for whatever impairment it produced in mental performance and output to training. indoctrination worked in that I fully understand seriousness of even a two month work contract, a theme repated and repeated and repeated. even OJT (On the Job Training) continues, where do they get these resources? you know it's a corporation when they invest 2 FULL WEEKS of training in a mere 10 week gig. I can't possibly see how they're turning a profit on me, but I've heard some rumor that there's some sort of contract renewal going on, so I'm the safe bet. I wouldn't rest on my laurels, too much, though, as one trainer took a first-hand aversion to me. between that and immediate expressed sentiments, here we are.

the story everyone wants: what is London? what is the Met up to? can the radicals be detected before the Met has to stop direct action? who are the stake holders? do we fear English Socialism more than any other force in the world? INGSOC will save the world. I know it.

what these people want is the ability to alter the flow of history. I can identify--to some limited degree--but I'm also skeptical of the possibilities of 20th century revolutionary ideologies to really apply to our infinitely more complex 21st century world. it's time for new ideologies, new thinking. Marx doesn't have the same relevance when Youtube is competing with Youku. that's the thing.

the other thing is INGSOC's cadres in general. they're bright, they're commited, they're hard people. the overall level of professionalism is something to really stun, but on the other hand, we don't have a talent-led world because life is 1/3rd luck, 1/3rd PERSONALITY, and then 1/3rd talent. actually luck + personality > talent, or in other words, a person of good character with good luck is going to go FAR FAR FAR FAR further in life than the mere brilliant analyst. I know I have some analytical ability, but personality is more of a mixed bag. I derive far too much sadistic pleasure out of watching inevitable conflicts to be an effective leader myself. or in other words, if I'm constantly explaining myself MONTAIGNE assay style, it's that sometimes I can see the two irreonciliable forces hitting each other, and I just can't bring myself to intervene. why bother? who nominated you to be higher than fate?

that's why I'm probably not a good corporate hire, even if my performance is adequate for the subcontractors that be. I can't necessarily stand working more than 2 months for serious multinational, inc., although we'll see what the remaining 9 weeks bring, and we'll see just how damage the lesser floor is going to cause me (already having perceived my bias. it's bias led to other bias, and some trainers becomes more favored than others)

I AM WORKING FOR HYATT REGENCY KENSINGTON LONDON WHILE SETTLING INTO HOUSING AT A CREDIT-CARD PAID TIMESHARE IN CAMDEN. I DON'T, PERVERSELY, KNOW IF ANYBODY IS TURNING A PROFIT. MY WAGES ARE BARELY FORMAL, BUT HRKL IS ALSO SPENDING INORDINATE AMOUNTS ON TRAINING AND OVERSIGHT. THE CAMDEN TIMESHARE IS NOT SO EXPENSIVE AFTER ALL. SO WE'RE ALL POOR BUT AT LEAST WORKING. FURTHERMORE, I'VE JUST FINISHED A WEEK AT AN UNREGISTERED SQUAT IN MAYBERY. IT IS APPARENTLY CONTROLLED BY THE INGSOC MOVEMENT.

does this make any sense whatsoever? but I have little more to say...

the problem is that my brain naturally reflects whoever I'm talking to. this comes from being born in Hohenfels, Germany, the proving ground for NATO. all that NATO lifestyle of the 80s and 90s has resulted in a mush cultural brian-- sauce not the spaghetti. and then corporatism versus ingsoc is having me be simultaneously left and right. gotta get that worked out, somehow, reading tthe only cure.

[belton :) · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

I'm going to keep this review short because I really don't have much else to say other than I really really really did not like this book, and I really don't want to think about this book anymore.

It's boring. It's dull. Mona annoyed me. There is not a single character in this book that I found interesting. Even the story itself was just annoying. I didn't like the discussion of identity at all. I just thought the entire thing was pointless.

First of all, I don't really care if a main character is supposed to be likeable or not. I have read plenty of books where I did not like the main character but I still rated the book high because the character was at least interesting and had depth and was someone worth reading about. Mona was not. She was completely and utterly boring. She seemed so incredibly one-dimensional to me, and throughout the entire book I did not think she changed or evolved once. The worst thing a character can be is bland. And that is exactly what Mona (and frankly, all the other characters) is.

To be honest, I was trying really really hard to get into the book, but after about 100 pages in, I just gave up. I tried to keep going as best as I could because I had to finish this book for school, but oh my god. If I was placed in hell, reading this book would probably be one of my punishments for the rest of eternity. Everyone was just so detestable to me, and I did not think any of it was clever or witty.

Also, comparing this book to Jane Austen in the synopsis is ABSOLUTELY CRAZY.

As I was reading this book, I genuinely thought Mona was like 10 or 12 because she just seemed so childish, but tell me why I was shocked to learn that she was 16, and near the end of the book she's about to graduate high school?????? You're telling me at her grown age she's still acting like a freaking middle schooler???? (I guess she's not that grown LMFAO but still. At least act a little older jeez louise.

I thought that the theme of authenticity was interesting, but it wasn't enough for me to keep reading. I just don't think Gish Jen explored this theme well enough for me to keep going. It's just because all of the characters are so ridiculous that I just didn't like it. At all.

Also, this book is advertised to be clever, funny, and witty, but I did not laugh once. I didn't even let out a little chuckle. I didn't even crack a smile. It wasn't funny. I probably rolled my eyes a ton, though.

So why am I giving it 1.5 stars instead of 1. Well, I finished the book didn't I? LOL. And also Helen is such a girlboss when she argues with Mona that's all I have to say. Mona is such a little brat I'm so glad Helen was able to give her a stern talking to.

Anyway, this book is boring and dull, and I wouldn't wish this book upon my worst enemy. I think this book has got to be the worst book I've read this year so far (and it's the only book I've given 1 star!!!!). So, that's gotta tell you how bad I thought this book was. Ok I'm fuming as I type this so I think I'm done now. Ok bye!!!!!!!

edit: this review was longer than I thought it was going to be ........

[Sonal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I muddled through half the book but just couldn't seem to find the point or enjoy it, so I dropped it.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was certainly a wild ride, though it was admittedly a tad confusing one at times. The prose was really something else. At times it was hilarious and fit the narration of a teenage girl so very well, and at other times it was cumbersome, hard to follow, and not fitting for the tone. But overall, the prose was very fun and I did enjoy the refreshingly different writing style.

Set in 1968, this coming of age story brings up a lot of thought-provoking questions and gets you thinking about very relevant issues from a very different perspective. This book discusses a lot important topics without talking at you or telling you what to think or how to feel. Instead, Mona in the Promised Land gets the reader thinking about these subjects in a way that gets them thinking, without swaying that thinking one way or another. The book centers around the uniquely American privilege of being able to shape your own identity into whatever you want regardless of your cultural background, blurring the cultural lines in such a way to make each individual unique. It brings up topics of cultural integration and assimilation, of maintaining cultural identity in the great American melting pot, and of adopting other customs, traditions, ideas, and philosophies from the many cultures that make up America into your own unique identity. Then at the same time, this book delicately brings up many topics of race, social justice, and privilege, all under the umbrella of a wonderfully funny coming of age story. And of course you can't get any better than a story of a teenage girl set in the 1960's.

So, if I liked the story and loved the way this book got me thinking about such important social topics, why isn't the rating higher? Because for one, the prose got in its own way sometimes. I understand that the entire novel is from Mona's perspective, and that sometimes she doesn't fully understand some things. But this comes at the detriment of the reader sometimes having no idea what's going on. And then some important things that Mona even would understand are either left out or explained in such a cryptic way that it doesn't make any sense. **SPOILER ALERT** For example, why did Mona break up with Seth? Who knows. It wasn't fully explained. Why was Barbara's dad fired? Who knows. It was only cryptically explained. It was frustrating at times. **END SPOILER ALERT**

Then there's the issue of that ending. The story had been progressing along just fine and had been great right up until the last couple of chapters. The last couple of chapters felt more like Jen's teenage hippie fantasy than a satisfying conclusion for the story. Then when I got to the "big reveal" chapter in which everything was supposed to be all tied together and finally make sense, I found myself scratching my head and exclaiming "What?! What the heck is going on?!" The epilogue was sweet though, if not a little unbelievable.

Overall, I don't have a lot of gripes with the story and I really enjoyed it, and I especially loved the way it caused me to think afterward. I do think it changed my perspective a bit, and that alone makes the read worth it. The writing style isn't for everyone, but I do definitely think this book is worth a read. It's very average, but I enjoyed it. Pick it up if you're looking for a very different way to get your brain thinking about social issues that are as relevant now as they were in 1968.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. First, I liked some of Jen's short stories, and it would be great to find more Chinese American authors.

But the writing struck me as awkward and distant, and partially because of this, the characters weren't real for me. They seem to be moving around in a little bubble, without motivations, in a world where coincidence is a little too convenient. The main character decides to convert to Judaism to fit in with all of her Jewish friends --fine, but her feelings about this never shift throughout the book. It's hard to say how this is a story--it's hard to identify how she's any different at the end of the book, rather than a little older. There is one major affect on the character's life, the seeds of which are not planted, and Jen then immediately erases this affect in the Epilogue. So.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how I missed this book when it was published (25 years ago! 1996!), but I’m glad I found my way to it now.

The protagonist is a Chinese-American teen girl coming of age the late 60’s in Scarsdale, NY. She’s immersed in the affluent Jewish culture of the area, mixed with all of the influences of that most influential era, while at the same time, living with her first generation parents and working in the family pancake house.

The book seems …frothy on the surface, but actually many serious issues are addressed (classism, racism, feminism, the immigrant experience) with considerable, yet humorous, depth.

The abundant similes are “to die for” and the dialogue crackles with wit and wisdom. I thoroughly enjoyed the many cultural references. I’d completely forgotten about “Dippity Do”!

I’ll definitely try more of the author’s work.

[Karolien · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book looked promising but got a bit tedious towards the middle. I liked the concept of a Chinese girl exploring the cultural melting pot of New York. She is a very loveable main character but she is not as flawed as the Jane Austen heroines. This makes her hard to relate and the story more difficult to read. It is an interesting thing that she wants to emulate the Jewish community but in the end finds her own voice.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review pending.

[Brielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was hard to get through…there was the slog of teenagers being philosophical…but I truly loved Mona. And her search for authenticity/identity was very relatable and sweet. So I kept at it, despite it sometimes feeling like those boring college discussions that you were supposed to be fascinated by, and in the end, I’m glad I did.

[Jane]

Finally finished this on my Yosemite trip. I hated the ending!

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is pretty boring, and, like others, I had to get a third of the way through it before it caught my interest. And the laugh-factor never rose higher than a chortle for me.

This said, the work is a curiosity. Written in the mid-90s, it's set in the late 60s and early 70s. To read the work in 2021 (I picked it up specifically because of the recent anti-Asian events that have transpired) is fascinating. For one thing, certain scenes where characters discuss racism possess the self-consciousness of the period when Jen wrote the work; it doesn't ring true to the early 70s. By the same token, from the perspective of a post-Woke moment, the whole novel contains moments that are -- racially speaking, especially vis-a-vis black characters -- cringeworthy. It's hard to tell, but I don't think I'm being generous when it seems that Jen is self-consciously aware of working with Twain's Jim as a model for Alfred, the major black character. Early in the work, Mona and her friends attempt to assist him in ways that seem as ridiculous as Huck and Tom's final "rescue" at the end of ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN; however, Jen pulls the carpet from underneath her readers as the story unfolds and Alfred gains more heft as a character. Nevertheless, I still think that some readers might find Alfred and his friends problematic. I, myself, have no problem with how race is treated in this novel; indeed, the novel sees race as a fungible commodity, and I think -- as boring as the novel is to read - this is the work's most enduring quality, and for that I appreciate it.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first read this book some 15 years ago, I really liked it because I could relate to the protagonist. I would've given it 4 or 5 stars.
Now, I _dislike_ the book because it sets up one scenario after another in which the protagonist (with whom I can still relate, though not to the same extent as before) fumbles as she deals with the various dramas of her life. Maybe what I'm really saying is that I actually don't relate to her much at all -- and that I didn't find her to be particularly clever or interesting as a character.

[Ellen]

Jen is my new obsession. This book is a perfect time capsule if high school in the 70s.

[Aidan Lau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wouldn’t have finished this if it wasn’t for a class.

I can’t stand the Coming of Age genre and this is very much that. Lots of characters here seem opposed to everything (in teenaged fashion), but are frustratingly unproductive. There’s interesting philosophical questions here that amount to nothing more than a few characters sitting in a circle and talking for a page or two before it’s dropped for the next thing. In that way, it is accurate to the way teenagers of a certain social standing behave—the core characters have some very interesting cultural perspectives, but they’re mostly upper middle class so aren’t motivated towards applying their knowledge to tangible activism—and it just makes for a very meandering, directionless plot (think Catcher in the Rye).

Worst is that there’s no character development past this teenage daze. After the last chapter, Jen cuts some 15-20 years ahead to an epilogue that simply tells us about who these people have become. It really fell flat for me.

In my opinion, this would have been a much stronger piece had it spanned more of Mona’s life. The most captivating story element was Mona’s relationship with her mother, which only begins to boil in the final few chapters. I wish we had more time to actually see how these characters settled into the status quo that’s recapped in the epilogue, even if it was at the cost of cutting a number of the high school threads.

I did appreciate what Jen did with the prose. It’s a bit odd, but it helped make the story stand out more from others that are similar even though it didn’t always land for me.

[Kate McKinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly written. Still, amusing & fairly interesting at times. Rode it out to the end by starting to skim halfway thru & got only a minor payoff from finishing. Let's salute the author for at least trying to portray the tensions of a young woman's "coming of age" identity crisis, complicated by the multicultural influences of her family & friends. The story offered some insight into the unique multigenerational stressors within an Asian family. But the book cannot quite escape its oddities of presentation. There are too many quirks. Our Asian main character, Mona, embarks upon a quest to become Jewish, in the midst of her journey of finding herself, and what ensues is a confusing jumble of a book that can't seem to decide if it's a comedy, drama, romance, satire or international research study. It doesn't blend these different genres into a cohesive unit & the book seems often splintered. The jargon used is also very eccentric. I wasn't able to form an attachment w/any of the characters & didn't understand the attachments they formed w/each other. They were sometimes intriguing but I didn't really relate to, care for, or like any of them very much. So, although I could appreciate this book's effort intellectually, the book didn't resonate at all for me on other levels. I just didn't really like it & was glad to finish & move on to better books.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

1996. Author born 1955 Long Island

Enjoyed the book on many levels! I'll want to read other books by her, there are many. Also, I decided soon after starting the book, that I would not bother to underline anything because I need/want to read it a second time.

Gives good portrait of what it was like for her to grow up with parents born in China [but immigrated to the U.S. before she was born]. My children would surely recognize some of this. 'Be sure' is her parents' motto, having grown up in great uncertainty and volatile situations in CHina.

Set in 1968.
Written in the third person, but definitely from Mona's perspective, Mona seeming quite similar to the author. Mona is a teenager, in her last couple years of high school in most of the book. [except for a look to the future at the very end]

Living in Scarshill, New York, Mona goes to high school with a lot of Jewish kids, many well-to-do, and she studies to become Jewish, so the book has a lot of stuff about Judaism and also about her Jewish friends' families, expectations, etc. There's a nice rabbi she has many conversations with.

[Blanca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this 3.5, 3.75 stars if I could, but since Goodreads doesn't allow that, 3 it is.

'Mona in the Promised Land' is a bit slow to get into at first but then gradually picks up into some truly beautiful prose, growing into itself as its protagonist, Mona, grows. A whimsical narrative that explores topics of love, family, culture, society, race, religion, and class without delving overly singularly into any of them (that is to say that they are written as if they are all intertwined, the way it occurs in real life), the story is told through Mona's observations and views of the world as she understands it. It seemed, in the end, a story more about Mona growing up than one about multiculturalism, although given Mona's identity (a first-generation Chinese American and newly-converted Jew), the two are almost inseparable.

[Jessica Diesta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 4/5 with big potential for 5/5 depending on if this story really sticks with me moving forward. Mona (the protagonist) is well-developed, not because she’s a likable character, but because she’s written in such an unlikable way that is accurate for her age. There are, of course, big important conversations being had in this book: national vs. religious vs. ethnic identity, racism (as a nuanced, often unfair experience), and growing up feeling like the Other. Jen uses irony to get a lot of these points across and it’s often in the mother-daughter and the society-individual relationship front.

This book deserves a better rating on goodreads!

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this book. I'd been wanting to read it since an introduction to American literature class freshman year, but it took me a while to get to it. I felt close to and very far away from the protagonist (Mona) until the very end, when I cried over the last few sentences. I hope you like it too; there aren't too many Chinese-Jewish-American female protagonists speaking to us from the 1970's.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often funny, sometimes thought provoking, and a bit confusing because for pete's sake the entire book is written in the PRESENT TENSE from one viewpoint, and sometimes a reader would like to know what's going on, no matter how confused the protagonist may be.
But Mona was a lot of fun, and her circle of friends was wide and interesting, and her family was easily JUST as functional as most families are, meaning not nearly as functional as we would like to think.

Read this for a book club.

[Aden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn this is a whole lotta novel, but despite occasionally getting tangled in all its threads, Jen pulls off something really impressive here. From American immigrant culture to transracial social politics to mother/sister dynamics to the fickle and transformative time of being a teenager, this novel is much bigger than it appears. I cannot wait to read more from Jen. I'm glad to be reading this novel for a seminar; there is so much to chew on and discuss.

[Fred Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved most of this novel, though I felt the end was a little rushed, and I didn't like that Mona ends up with the person she ends up with. I also am not crazy about ending with an epilogue that tells us how everyone's lives turned out. But I appreciated Mona's irrepressible wit and her fierce determination to decide for herself who she is.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a good 75-100 pages to get used to the narrative voice and cadence of the story. But after I got the hang out it, and after I realized the plot was going to be rather winding and disjointed, I was able to enjoy the spunk of Mona's character and the charming sort of humor dispersed throughout. Might be worth the reread in the distant future.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a great book, but a really enjoyable very good book, particularly if you come to it as an American Jew.

Mona is a first generation Chinese American girl in 8th grade in Scarsdale and 1968. In high school she first gets involved with the Temple Youth Group as a sort of mascot, and then converts.

Funny, lovely portrayal of that time and place, including its difficult race relations.

[Holly Coombs · Rating 5 out of 5]

On of my all-time favorite books. A coming of age novel combined with other social movements of the time as well as Mona’s search for identity (and what it means to be an “American”). I particularly loved the stream of consciousness as well as Mona’s sense of humor. I laughed a lot, related to Mona often, and honestly cried at the end. Highly recommend, an excellent read!

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot to like about Mona in the Promised Land: the characters are well wrought and real, the prose is strong, and the humor is often smile-inducing. That said, the ending is so clean, so happily ever after, that it was unsatisfying. In the end, the promised land needs a little irony...

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style in this one will be very hit or miss. I liked it a lot, very stream of consciousness at some points, but at other points it was very wordy and hard to follow. The highlight of the book is the main character herself - I liked and very much identified with Mona in a lot of ways!