[.ca] In Full Bloom (ISBN 0452284880)

well written clever character study:
Korean American Ginger Lee enjoys her New York lifestyle. Ginger gave up on attaining a PhD and ultimately becoming an English professor. Instead she currently works as an assistant drone at what she dubs "Waste" magazine for the brain drain of the staff. She is also quite comfortable with no long term relationship with men. However, Ginger's mom arrives unannounced from Milwaukee with plans to matchmake her with purebred Korean males. Mom refuses to allow Ginger to go down the unholy path of her other child George who committed family heresy by marrying a white woman. Ginger cannot turn to her sibling for help because he has severed the family ties so instead she agrees to go out with some of her mom's choice cut. At work cat-fighting may cost Ginger her job. Turning to her only ally mom for solace and strategy, Ginger begins to reconsider her heritage. She starts recognizing that though a Manhattanite, she is also a Korean-American. Accepting the complete Ginger is the only way that she becomes IN FULL BLOOM. This well written novel cleverly moves along on two obvious levels. First is the noticeable New York scene including the publishing infighting war. Second is the traditional Korean lifestyle modified in America as portrayed by mom with her take on life including marriage and her vividly uttered Korean-English that showcases a first generation individual. However the urban old country tie supports the genuinely brilliant message that the whole person cannot ignore their roots as in a sense it is not whether you can go home, but that "home" came with you. Harriet Klausner

a mixed review:
There were parts of this book that I liked and times when I rooted for the heroine, Ginger, but other times when the story seemed a bit cliche and dragged...The book deals with a mother-daughter relationship from a Korean protagonist's viewpoint. The protagonist's mother is on a mission to find her daughter a suitable Korean husband. The theme seemed a little trite but if that is the subject matter, so be it. I liked the depiction of the fashion magazine that Ginger works at, Ginger's insights and musings about her cultural identity and the struggles to define one's self, and the way the characters are fully drawn out--I could visualize them in real life. I also liked how Ginger had heroic moments of standing up for herself and standing her ground. It was a pretty good read...

So-so:
I celebrate the fact that a female Korean-American author created a voice for an under-represented and stereotyped group in the US - Korean-American women. However, I was dismayed to find that her book's title character reinforced many stereotypes: designer label junkie, superficiality, flighty, and most of all...weak. It seemed as if the author was more concerned with dropping designer named clothes rather than flushing out her character's motivations, interests, and strengths. I found that the main character was overly superficial and her personality did not lead me to feel compassion for her, so I ended up quickly losing interest in her. What irritated me the most about the way Caroline Hwang created the story was the way she made the Korean-American woman to be so weak and subservient to EVERYONE: her mother, her coworkers, her friends, her boss...she let everyone take advantage of her while making excuses for this behavior. Why make the main character so passive? How long can you keep reading until you realize that, halfway through the book, this main character has done NOTHING to absolve her weaknesses. While I understand that the clashing relationship with her mother takes a huge chunk of the storyline, I would have liked to see more interaction with other young Korean-Americans. Must we reinforce the stereotype of the asexual Asian that American movies and television already show? To sum it all up, I was very excited to see a new Korean-American author attempt to portray the current cultural situation of Korean-Americans. However, I was ultimately disappointed to find that this book chose to highlight the negative stereotypes rather than offering a creative and varying view of Korean-Americans today. While I did not expect Hwang to represent and capture every detail of Korean-American culture, I would have liked to relate to SOMETHING in her characters and book. Maybe her next novel will fare better.

Funny, Moving, Smart:
If you've read Gish Jen and liked her, you'll enjoy In Full Bloom. Like Jen's work, this novel deals with Asian-American issues through sharp observations and much humor. Hwang also delves into the manic/cutthroat fashion magazine corporate culture, which adds a nice balance to the family story that's at the core of the novel. The chapters where Ginger ruminates about her situation -- what does it mean to be Korean-American, to constantly experience the burden of straddling two disparate cultures -- are particularly well-written. Hwang manages to convey this confusion effectively and, more importantly, entertainingly. Sometimes her supporting characters are a bit much -- like the ultrajock Rock -- but they are few in number and do not detract from the bulk of the work. The chapter where Ginger and her mother cook together may be the strongest section of the book. "She wiped her hands again and returned to sloshing soy sauce and spooning sugar into her concoction. Slapdash was how she cooked, how she lived here, improvising and customizing to taste." Tying her art of cooking with her situation and her personality -- that's very tight writing. I'm not sure if the ending of the book works -- seems as if the novel could have gone on a bit longer to work out more of the issues between the mother and the son. But that's a minor quibble. In Full Bloom is a solid work by a talented writer, and I look forward to more.

A Delightful First Novel for Caroline Hwang:
What is the last thing a 27-year-old single career girl living in New York City needs at 8:30 AM on a Monday morning? If you guessed her tiny, Korean dynamo of a mother on her doorstep proclaiming, "I come to fix your life," you could be right! As if Ginger doesn't have enough issues just trying to pay her bills --- with her mother's help --- and figuring out how to get promoted from her position as a fashion assistant in the midst of guerilla warfare in the office, she now has to cope with motherly interference and concern from a little woman with big hair, big shoulder pads, a proclivity for Chanel and an iron will, whom Ginger likens to a "Korean Nancy Reagan." At the moment, Ginger's biggest interest is her career, or lack thereof. Her mother's main concern is Ginger's love life, or lack thereof. Never fear, Ginger --- Mommy's here and she's going to "find you a good Korean husband" no matter what it takes! Now Ginger is watching the caller ID at work in order to avoid her mother's calls, hiding her smoking and drinking since it isn't "ladylike," and trying to determine how to get out of any number of awkward blind dates her mother has set up with the still-single sons of Korean friends and acquaintances. While it is nice having her mother's cooking and company and a clean apartment for a change, it's not so nice receiving unsolicited advice on her wardrobe, such as "that's just ugly," criticism on her apartment --- "what a dump" --- and being told that she needs to marry because her "bloom is fading." It's also not nice being used as a secret weapon to break up the engagement between the son of old family friends and his Caucasian fiancée. As if dealing with her mother on the homefront isn't enough, work presents another challenge as secret alliances are formed and loyalties and boundaries are tested. Take, for instance, Ginger's boss Sam, who happens to be an old college friend with less education than Ginger but more of an ability to get ahead through whatever methods are necessary. She'd like to think that she could trust Sam to look out for her best interests, but as is always the case in the business world, it's each woman for herself. Amidst high intrigue both in the office and at home, Ginger and her mother make some startling discoveries about each other and themselves, their relationship as mother and daughter, and life in general. This is a heartwarming story that mothers and daughters everywhere, nationality notwithstanding, will relate to. IN FULL BLOOM is a delightful first novel for Caroline Hwang. The pages are filled with a colorful and memorable cast of characters whom you'll feel like you know intimately by the time you are done. It's also a page-turner that will keep your interest as you read page after page to find out what each new adventure of Ginger's brings. --- Reviewed by Amie Taylor