Author Description

An unusual love letter arrives nearly 22 years after-the-fact in the form of a book. The man tears the manila paper from the delivery and begins to read immediately. It is about him. It is about her. It is a memoir filled with passion, wit and sensitivity. It is also an astounding history of things he never knew, and could not have known. Deeply-felt letters of devotion that he'd never received fill the pages of the book, containing passionate remembrances of their lovemaking, confessions of secrets never shared, and painful details about the chasm that developed between her and her mother as they clashed over archaic cultural traditions from the old country. And now, reading her words, he begins to piece together the last 22 years. He devours the book, especially the details about a son that he still believes is his. When he reads about how she was raped and abused by her husband, his heart breaks, and he begins to understand why he and she were always like two ships passing in a dense foggy night, experiencing only occasional trysts punctuated by long periods of silence. He had always known of her success in business and how she'd made it through so many roadblocks, tragedies and losses. After all, he had been her mentor and confidant before he was her lover. He was always proud of her. He has always been in love with her. Putting the book down on the desk, he puts his hands to his face, covers his eyes and begins to cry until he cannot stop, for what could have been. May Le's story jumps off the pages of her first book with a direct, raw, insightful wit as she recounts her life beginning as a Chinese immigrant to America from Vietnam in 1985. From the death of her father and brother while her mother struggled to support the family of five, to two decades of poverty followed by a brutal rape and coerced marriage to the rapist, a series of misfortunes propels May Le to rise above her circumstances. Ultimately she becomes a successful restaur