Synopsis: Lee, living in Hong Kong, meets Matt, a fine young Englishman. Their relationship becomes stronger by the day, despite their deep cultural differences. But there is Lee’s Dad to contend with who views this affair very suspiciously. And there is another contender for Lee’s heart, a Chinese young man, whose jealousy takes on twinges of xenophobia. Will Lee and Matt’s relationship successfully cross the cultural divide and overcome the negative odds? Two worlds collide creating good sparks… and bad ones.
About the Author: Hi all, this is Sean, the writer of THE STORY OF LEE.
There are many aspects in the Story of Lee book that seem to be autobiographical, or based on real experiences or real places. I thought I'd go into that for a bit. The first thing is that its not an autobiography. Matt is not me and Lee is not any girl I've dated. But there are aspects of my experiences and attitudes in them both.For example, the back text matter mentions 'Page 83, Kens cafe, Chai wan road.'
That's a real place that a real lady took me too several times, and the waiter was a real chap, called Peter I think, who was very nice to me each time i went in. Rather than just bringing me my food, he would make an effort to talk in some funny way. The scene on that page is true, he did say i looked like a film star, which I was pleased about of course (presuming that he didn't mean i look like SHREK). In Japan where i live the people are famously polite and kind, but in a way that can appear stand-offish to a British person. There are cafe's here that i have been going to for 3 or 4 years in which the very nice staff don't make much effort to chat with me and rarely ask personal questions. They see it as invasive. But by contrast this Hong Kong man, starting from my very first visit to his cafe, always came over to my table 2 or 3 times to say or ask something. I was struck by the difference to Japan.
The setting of SOL is 'Chai Wan', on the east of Hong Kong island itself. An area that does not have many 'westerners', to use the imprecise and possibly ethnocentric label that is still common. I was also introduced to that by the same lady (who doesn't want to be named), and I thought it was an ideal place to situate the story. An ordinary unglamorous area, where the 'real' HK people live. Just the kind of place that can show you what people's lives are like on an everyday level, and the kind of place that a young lady would want to escape from to an ideal place of her imaginary longing.
But as it goes it was very nearly my place of death! They have a huge amount of VERY tall buildings in HK, but not particularly in good condition. I was walking along, just off the main Chai wan road one hot afternoon when a slab of concrete fell with a frightening WHAAKK a short distance in front of me - right in the place I would have walked 2 or 3 seconds afterwards. I looked up and saw the gap that it had come from of an apartment on the 12th floor. At that height it probably would have killed me - Chilling stuff... please buy THE STORY OF LEE to celebrate my good luck!
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
My Review: This was a cute romance in manga form. I haven't read anything like this before. It felt different from other manga stories that I have read and I am very happy that I have all three of these. I didn't particular like Matt all that much but I think he worked well for this story. This was a great intro into the world of Lee and I am excited to see what happens next. I think this would be a great book to take with you on a trip because its short and you could just toss it in your bag.
"There is much here to like. Lee is quite sympathetic and her straightforward romance with Matt is sweet and believable. Readers will look forward to the next volume in this gentle series." —VOYA (August 2011)
"Drawn with the iconic faces and screentones manga aficionados cherish and written with a sensitivity to the passion of first love, The Story of Lee is a story to move any heart." —Teacher Librarian
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FTC Guidelines: In accordance with FTC guidelines regarding endorsements and testimonials for bloggers, I would like my readers to know that many of the books I review are provided to me for free by the publisher or author of the book in exchange for an honest review. If am compensated for any reviews on this site I will state that post has been sponsored.
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