The Natural Laws of Good Luck

Name: The Natural Laws of Good Luck
Price: 49.99 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9781590308332

A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage

Ellen Graf

$49.99

Paperback

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English

Trumpeter Books
15 February 2013

Memoirs; Dating, relationships, living together & marriage

Ellen is forty-six, divorced, and having no luck with personal ads when her Chinese girlfriend comes up with a plan- she has a brother in China, Zhong-hua, who's lonely too. Maybe they'd like each other? Taking a leap of faith that most of us wouldn't dare, Ellen travels to China to meet him. Though they speak only a few words of each other's language, there's an unspoken connection between them and they decide to marry.

What follows is a remarkably touching and humorous story of two people from completely different worlds trying to make a marriage work. Settling in at Ellen's ramshackle farmhouse in upstate New York, they quickly discover the cultural chasm that lies between them. Ellen and her teenage daughter decide to adopt a policy of nonjudgment as Zhong-hua lobbies to sell their refrigerator (""Just three people, no need""), serves them giant sea slugs for dinner, and brusquely nudges Ellen aside without an ""excuse me"" (""Family no need these kind of words"").

Zhong-hua is not the type to offer his wife impromptu smiles or hugs, but in bed at night he holds her tightly like she's ""something long lost and precious that might not live until morning."" The Natural Laws of Good Luck is an unusual and exquisitely written love story-one that will resonate with anyone who has ever contemplated with wonder the spaces that exist between us and those we care about.

By: Ellen Graf
Imprint: Trumpeter Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 15mm
Weight: 318g
ISBN: 9781590308332
ISBN 10: 1590308336
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 15 February 2013
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ellen Graf is a writer and sculptor. She has received the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation Grant, and she holds an MFA in creative writing from Bennington College.

Reviews for The Natural Laws of Good Luck: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage

“One of the funniest and most moving love stories to come around in a long time.”—Library Journal “A poignant, witty look at cultural misunderstandings, the intimacies of marriage, and the deep bonds of human connection.”—Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai's Garden “A compelling read for anyone with an interest in the nuts and bolts of how to keep a marriage together.”—Times Union “A delightful account of East meets West in a loving relationship, complete with inevitable culture clashes resulting from wildly different ethnicities, customs, and background experiences. This appealing, true tale of adaptation (an ongoing process required in any marriage but taken here to extremes) is infused with an unforced sweetness and offers heartfelt and authentic proof of what we do for love.”—Booklist “Ellen Graf and her husband, Lu Zhong-hua, take the realm of marriage and spin it on an irresistible new axis. Quite simply the greatest love story I’ve ever read.”—Aimee Liu, author of Cloud Mountain