The jist of it is that Ginger Lee is a 27-year-old American-Korean woman working as an entry level assistant at a fashion magazine. Suddenly, Ginger's mom comes to New York with a mission to get Ginger hitched. Of course, chaos ensues. In the process of meeting various men, Ginger discovers a lot about herself. Her excuse to her mother's plotting is that she is focusing on her career, to which her mom gives her a lot of advice that helps Ginger get promoted. Ginger's mom leaves after 3 weeks, but things change drastically. In between this main storyline, there are threads of an abandoned older brother, feeling and dealing with one's Korean-ness (or otherwise non-American identity), a closet gay, and fashion magazine drama and backstabbing.
When I first started reading the book, I was so enthusiastic that I found a protagonist I could so fully identify with that if there were to be a movie, I was determined to play Ginger. But the more I read, the more I was embarrassed that this 20+ woman was not as dependent or confident as she thought she was. She can hardly speak any Korean and is shunned at a party. Worse is when she goes to a Korean church with her mom and cannot speak to a man who is trying to converse with her. Am I as pathetic as she?! Her taste in men is also atrocious.
The book was a good length but the ending seemed somewhat forced. I would read it again because some of the sentiments her mom expressed were so wise and something I wish someone told me about growing up. In the end, I feel more sorry for Ginger's mom than I do for Ginger. But they are both good examples of what I do not want to end up as.
