THE LIFE OF LEE LYE HOE

In Wolter’s novel, a young Chinese woman displays fortitude as tumultuous world events threaten both her and her family’s safety.

In 1921, Lee Lye Hoe is born in South Canton Province, China, and grows up happily on her mother’s modest farm. But when she is only 6 years old, her irresponsible father abandons them, absconding with most of the family’s savings and leaving his daughter embittered and carrying the freight of a “hefty mistrust of men.” They manage to rebuild their savings and transform the farm into a prosperous one, but Lye Hoe’s mother suddenly dies, leaving the 16-year-old girl to fend for herself and raise her two young cousins, Yang and Meow. Uncle Wong, a nearby neighbor, tries to push Lye Hoe into marriage with his son, Wong Soo Bing, but she is as uncompromisingly independent as her mother was and insists on taking care of herself. In this moving tale, Lye Hoe becomes a victim of her own success: A flourishing farmer, she’s vulnerable to the approaching marauding Communists who behead landowners like herself. She manages to secure passage for herself and her cousins to Malaya in exchanged for years of indentured servitude, working as a cook for a cruel woman who treats her like a slave. Lye Hoe becomes deeply attached to her mistress’s newborn daughter, Moke Chee, a bright spot in an otherwise dreary existence, but her life is threatened once again when, in 1941, Malaya is occupied by Japanese troops. Wolter’s prose is threadbare, lacking even a whiff of literary style. Yet, the plot is affectingly poignant and intelligently executed. The narrative is a compelling exploration of the irrepressibility of fate and the manner in which it dispenses blessings as well as burdens. It is a testament to the tale itself that the story is so dramatically engrossing despite the author’s limitations as a stylist.

A gripping narrative of perseverance in the face of adversity.