Soy Sauce for Beginners

A Novel

By: Kirstin Chen

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

Gretchen Lin, adrift at the age of thirty, leaves her floundering marriage in San Francisco to move back to her childhood home in Singapore and immediately finds herself face-to-face with the twin headaches she’s avoided her entire adult life: her mother’s drinking problem and the machinations of her father’s artisanal soy sauce business.

Surrounded by family, Gretchen struggles with the tension between personal ambition and filial duty, but still finds time to explore a new romance with the son of a client, an attractive man of few words. When an old American friend comes to town, the two of them are pulled into the controversy surrounding Gretchen’s cousin, the only male grandchild and the heir apparent to Lin’s Soy Sauce.

In the midst of increasing pressure from her father to remain permanently in Singapore - and pressure from her mother to do just the opposite - Gretchen must decide whether she will return to her marriage and her graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory, or sacrifice everything and join her family’s crusade to spread artisanal soy sauce to the world.

Soy Sauce for Beginners reveals the triumphs and sacrifices that shape one woman’s search for a place to call home, and the unexpected art and tradition behind the brewing of a much-used but unsung condiment. The result is a foodie love story that will give listeners a hearty appreciation for family loyalty and fresh starts.

©2013 Kirstin Chen (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Beautifully narrated!

The narrator did a wonderful job reading this book. She has an easy to listen to voice quality as well as excellent expression and pacing. As one who listens to many audiobooks, I can tell you this narrator is a cut above the rest of them!

She found herself

A good, entertaining story about a woman facing the reality of family love and self empowerment. Truly enjoyable.

Enjoyable -- coming of age for grownups

Where does Soy Sauce for Beginners rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Kristin Chen's story is an enjoyable coming-of-age or finding-my-true-self kind of book. It's not earth shattering, but the right amount of personal input from the author to make you believe and care about Gretchen and her family. Chen creates a Gretchen as protagonist in which readers can find a connection. Sometimes that connection was a little too close to home and I wanted reach into the story to whisper to Gretchen: "How can you say/do that! Don't you see..." The supporting cast reinforces the relief between the two worlds (California and Singapore) Gretchen navigates. The ending maybe a little predictable, but I think that is the point of the story: Gretchen finds her way into a choice that makes sense for her and the person she has, and wishes, to become. May we all find that.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

It was easy to listen to Nancy Wu's narration. This book uses different English voices (Californian American, 'good' Singaporean English, Australian English) as well as Singlish, and Chinese. I can't say how authentic Wu's interpretation of each are, but she did a good job of making them palatable to my American ear. I wish Wu had done a little research for the lyrics excerpted. I get it that a narrator may not be able to sing lyrics, but she could have gotten the phrasing and syllable emphasis correct and mimic a little of the tonal qualities of the songs. It was very distracting that she read them in monotone and with completely different phrasing. All in all I would listen to another narration by Nancy Wu, as long as there were no lyrics or poems.

An Easy To Enjoy Story

While the story may not have been impeccable in its execution and detailing of its many characters, it does one thing very well, and that is take us on a long walk around Singapore. And for that and the main character’s relationship with her father and mother, and the struggles of juggling familial responsibilities with personal ambitions, I found the story and the performance very engaging and enjoyable.

Salty Story

5 star narration for Nancy Wu - I love her style and was a driving factor in me picking up this audiobook.
Good contemporary novel - I saw the potential for a more involved story ...so wish the author had blown out this book. The main character is realistically flawed and I definitely saw one or two of my friends with a Gretchen's "life". I definitely had feelings for Gretchen - sorrow, anger and pity...and ultimately, kindness.

Would recommend this book to my friends - especially good beach read!