Mathey Girls - Paperback

by Melody Chu (Author)

A heartfelt, moving novel about a Chinese American woman coming to terms with the evolving nature of family, friendship, and grief after the loss of her best friend.

On the outside, Esther Hsu looks like the proverbial second-generation immigrant success story, an Ivy League grad taking a well-earned break from her lucrative consulting career. However, she sees herself differently: almost forty, jobless, aimless, alone. She's an imposter hiding her failure from everyone, including her oldest group of friends-the Mathey Girls, named after their old Princeton dorm.

When fellow Mathey Girl Claire dies in childbirth, Esther steps in to support Claire's grief-stricken husband by caring for his nine-year-old daughter Hannah for the summer. While this responsibility gives Esther a renewed sense of purpose, it also brings up a loss from her childhood that she never truly got over. In a summer of second chances, including a new job opportunity and a new romance, Esther must rise above the past and her self-doubt to forge a path forward for both herself and Hannah.

Editorial Reviews

"Well-developed female characters who are hopeful and empathetic are the beating heart of this novel. Esther is proof that what might look like failure is actually an opportunity to help someone else, and, as she transforms her grief and insecurities into supporting others, her narrative arc undergoes a stunning evolution as well, depicting a lovely model of camaraderie that inspires."

-- The BookLife Prize

"...an uplifting exploration of friendships and life possibilities that will lend especially well to book club recommendation and discussions... Filled with eye-opening reflections and moments of realization and growth, Mathey Girls is an unforgettable story filled with poignant revelations and cross-cultural inspections."

-- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review