'Good Fortune' reimagines 'Pride and Prejudice' in early 2000s Chinatown

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

In C.K. Chau's new novel, Good Fortune, Elizabeth Chen is highly wary of the Wong brothers who have swooped in to buy a New York City community center. But where Elizabeth sees a threat to her neighborhood, her mother sees an opportunity – and not just for their block. In today's episode, Chau speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about reframing Pride and Prejudice as an early aughts story about love and aspiration in a Cantonese American family, and how reframing certain characters as immigrants brings a whole new level to their outlook on relationships.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Linda Holmes. This is NPR's Book of the Day. New spins on Pride and Prejudice are practically their own genre.
0:09.1	Falling in love, being kept apart by stubbornness, dealing with family and class. These are foundations that are flexible enough to work in a wide variety of settings.
0:19.4	C.K. Chow's new book, Good Fortune, sets the story in New York City's Chinatown in the
0:24.3	early part of this century. She and NPR's Elsa Chang talked about how the story changes when it's
0:30.2	about a Chinese immigrant family and about how you might reconsider a classic character in a
0:35.8	really different way when you get to see them through
0:38.6	fresh eyes. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you
0:44.6	manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees.
0:50.3	Join millions of customers and visit Wise.com. T's and C's apply.
0:55.5	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
1:00.2	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
1:04.8	On our new show, Sources and Methods, NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:10.6	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:14.4	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:19.9	Bridget Jones, Jasmine Field, Aisha Shumsey. I mean, those are just three of the many female characters inspired by Elizabeth Bennett from pride and prejudice.
1:30.7	The opposites attract, hate turns into love, epic saga of Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy has been told and retold so many times since Jane Austen first published her work back in 1813.
1:47.2	And dare we say, another retelling is upon us again, this time with some delicious twists set in Chinatown in New York City during
1:53.1	the early 2000s. The novel is called Good Fortune. And the author who wraps a timeless tale in a
1:59.8	brand new package is C.K. Chow, who joins us now. Welcome.
2:04.5	Hello. It's great to be with you today. Great to have you. Why do you think the story at the heart of pride and prejudice just will not die? Like, what gives it such enduring appeal, you think? I think it brings together a lot of
2:20.7	different stories that we are drawn to and care about. There's a family story at the heart of it.
2:27.2	There's a love story. And it's a love story between these two leads. But it's also a love story
	...

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