Without Wood & Best Quality

One of the major themes present in these two stories is the persistent worrying and advice from the mothers. The daughters usually take it the wrong way and view them as annoying and inappropriate, but really they are showing concern because they care for the well-being of their daughters. In both stories, the two daughters involved are both hurt by someone. In Without Wood, Rose is served a cruel and shocking divorce from her cheating husband, and in Best Quality, Jing-Mei is embarrassed and beat down mentally at the dinner table by Waverly. Both times, their mothers came to their aid in their own odd ways and comforted them. It feels like as the stories continue, the daughters are slowly coming to understand their mother’s intentions about specific things and are coming to respect all that they have sacrificed for them to live a good life. As we read each story, they don’t necessarily get better, but we are able to appreciate and understand them more as we get into the lives of these women and their stories. I think the book as a whole is fantastic. It is not something I would usually pull off the bookshelf and read voluntarily, but I am glad to have the opportunity to read such great storytelling and learn about so much Chinese culture.