SOURCE: Ambrose, Mary. “In the Melting Pot.” Times Literary Supplement, no. 4903 (21 March 1997): 24.

In the following review, Ambrose unfavorably assesses Mona in the Promised Land, asserting that it is unfocused, frivolous, lacks emotional weight, its characters are not well developed, and its narrative voice is awkward.

Gish Jen is a writer of Chinese descent whose popular novels tackle one of the central issues of American life, the new nature of cultural identity, without being ponderous or claiming victimhood. Mona in the Promised Land is modern, politically aware and has some interesting ideas handled with self-deprecating humour and a light touch. This does not mean that it is a good novel, however. It isn't.

Jen's thesis—that being American means reinventing oneself continually, either by creating a new life or reclaiming an old one—has long been part of the American literary tradition. Henry James, Theodore Dreiser and Sinclair Lewis...