South China Morning Post Mentioned My Essay + Unsavory Elements Available for Kindle

I’m on a major deadline again this week and need a break from my regularly scheduled Friday programming. But I still have some share-worthy news, including one that was a definite jīngxǐ (惊喜, pleasant surprise) for me!

First off, the South China Morning Post recently came out with a review of Unsavory Elements. Mark O’Neill, who did the review, happened to single out my essay — titled “Red Couplets” — as one of “the most moving” contributions (along with essays from Kay Bratt and Kaitlin Solimine). Wow.

Here’s what he had to say in the review:

Jocelyn Eikenburg describes courting her Chinese husband. “From the first time I started to love a Chinese man, hiding became part of my life.” This is a rare account from the inside of a relationship that is much less common that that of a western man with a Chinese wife.

For anyone interested in reading the full review from the South China Morning Post, you’re welcome to peruse this PDF version. (Special thanks to Janet Brown, author of many great books including Tone Deaf in Bangkok, for sending me the original review!)

Also, for all of you enthusiastic e-readers, Unsavory Elements is now on sale as a Kindle e-book. So go ahead and download your copy today! And if you do, let me know what you think of my essay.