Women of Good Fortune

October 1, 2023

DEBUT Three friends prepare for a lavish society wedding in Shanghai in Wan's first novel. Lulu, the bride-to-be, is not in love with her fianc�, and her future wealthy in-laws are unkind, but family pressure is pushing her to go through with the ceremony. Her friends Jane and Riva are also unhappy, and the three hatch a plot to steal the wedding gift money and start their lives over. The plot, beginning 10 months before the wedding and counting down to the big day, is breezy and non-demanding. The friends just need to assemble a crew and come up with a foolproof plan. While romance does feature in the story, the focus is more on the friendship among the three women as they navigate their personal problems: for instance, Jane's marriage is troubled and she wants to break out, while Riva is struggling with fertility issues and work-life balance at a job where she's perennially passed over. The internal struggles of the three friends are more interesting than the heist plot. VERDICT Fans of contemporary stories with strong women characters will enjoy this debut.--Julie Feighery

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 6, 2023
In Wan’s crackling debut, a bride and her friends plot to steal the gift money at her wedding. Lulu is about to marry one of Shanghai’s most eligible bachelors, and the ceremony is sure to net a large sum of cash from the guests. She and her friends Jane and Rina view the money as a way out of their unhappy lives; their initial scheme involves swapping out the real safe containing the envelopes of cash for a fake one. At 27, Lulu would rather explore foreign lands and find her true self than settle down, while Jane wants to divorce her husband and get plastic surgery. Rina’s plan is to freeze her eggs and concentrate on climbing the corporate ladder. Unexpected developments lead each woman to reconsider whether their original goals are worth the risk and the sacrifices they entail. The novel moves along briskly while dutifully adhering to the tropes of the heist genre, but this stands out for its unexpected depth; Wan expertly delves into her protagonists’ emotional backstories and reveals their complexities. Suggesting that the women’s desire for independence need not necessarily clash with the expectations of family and patriarchal society, she shows that friendships and self-worth are fortunes worth treasuring. Wan pulls this off without a hitch.

February 1, 2024
The bride and her two best friends walk into a wedding, not just any wedding, but what's supposed to be Shanghai's most talked-about, ultra-f�ted event. Also arriving, albeit maybe entering more surreptitiously, are a Yale undergrad who drives better than most professionals and a forgery artiste (emphasis on that last ""e,"" thank you) who calls herself Michelangelo. The heist? All those thick red envelopes full of gift money--because, of course, the �ber-rich are going to outgive the filthy rich just for show--will buy the three best friends' freedom: bride Lulu can escape her greedy family's expectations (not to mention the monstrous would-be mother-in-law); Jane can finally get her beautiful face and divorce her boring husband; Rina can freeze her aging eggs while she continues to prove her corporate worth. Debut novelist Wan opens "10 months before the wedding," slowly, delectably revealing the planning, double-checking, and revising of the momentous occasion. During the process, so much unexpected happens: quiet, reserved Lulu proves her true worth; angry, bitter Jane finds her true passion(s); driven, no-nonsense Rina gets overlooked for the promotion she deserves (again) and takes flight. Interwoven into the intricate plotting, crazy-rich-Asian exorbitance, and not-always believable twists (doesn't matter!), are sharp, biting, brilliant observations about twenty-first-century womanhood in a world that still overvalues sons, brothers, husbands, and (useless) men.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.