Helen Wu says she didn’t want to write the typical Asian American novel.
What’s typical? Wu told CNN typically every book marketed to AAPI women is about a modern Asian American women in an interracial relationship and in conflict with her traditional parents.
Hmm, that plot line does sound somewhat familiar, doesn’t it?
Her debut novel Partner Track is about a young Asian American professional woman climbing the corporate ladder, breaking stereotypes until an incident puts her nose right up against the glass ceiling.
It took her 12 years to get the book published and she went through three rewrites and two book agents.
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“In many ways that category was very, very difficult to pinpoint for this particular book.’ said Wu. “Was it commercial, was it more literary? Was it an Asian-American novel? Was it an ethnic novel at all? If nobody goes back to China, there are no arranged marriages etc., (then) what kind of story is this?”
Partner Track is set to be released September 17.
You can read more about Wu and what inspired her to write Partner Track on CNN.
