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Last Tang Standing
Cover of Last Tang Standing
Last Tang Standing
by Lauren Ho
Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones's Diary in this funny and irresistible debut novel about the pursuit of happiness, surviving one's thirties intact, and opening oneself up to love.
At thirty-three, Andrea Tang is living the dream: She has a successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo, and a clutch of fun-loving friends who are always in the know about Singapore's hottest clubs. All she has to do is make law partner, and her life will be perfect. And if she's about to become the lone unmarried member of her generation in the Tang clan—a disappointment her meddling Chinese-Malaysian family won't let her forget—well, she doesn't need a man to complete her.
Yet when a chance encounter with charming, wealthy entrepreneur Eric Deng offers her a glimpse of an exciting, limitless future, Andrea decides to give Mr. Right-for-her-family a chance. Too bad Suresh Aditparan, her office rival and the last man her family would approve of, keeps throwing a wrench in her plans. Now Andrea can't help but wonder: In the endless tug-of-war between pleasing others and pleasing herself, is there room for everyone to win?
Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones's Diary in this funny and irresistible debut novel about the pursuit of happiness, surviving one's thirties intact, and opening oneself up to love.
At thirty-three, Andrea Tang is living the dream: She has a successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo, and a clutch of fun-loving friends who are always in the know about Singapore's hottest clubs. All she has to do is make law partner, and her life will be perfect. And if she's about to become the lone unmarried member of her generation in the Tang clan—a disappointment her meddling Chinese-Malaysian family won't let her forget—well, she doesn't need a man to complete her.
Yet when a chance encounter with charming, wealthy entrepreneur Eric Deng offers her a glimpse of an exciting, limitless future, Andrea decides to give Mr. Right-for-her-family a chance. Too bad Suresh Aditparan, her office rival and the last man her family would approve of, keeps throwing a wrench in her plans. Now Andrea can't help but wonder: In the endless tug-of-war between pleasing others and pleasing herself, is there room for everyone to win?
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    1

    Tuesday 9 February

    Hope. ThatÕs what the Spring Festival, the most important celebration in the traditional Chinese calendar, is supposed to commemorate, aside from signalling, well, the coming of spring. Renewal. A time for new beginnings, fresh starts. Green stuff grows out of the ground. Politicians fulfill their campaign promises, concert tickets for A-list pop stars never get scalped, babies get born and nobody gets urinary incontinence after. And Chinese families all over the world come together in honor of love, peace, and togetherness.

    But this is not that kind of story. This is a story where bad things happen to good people. Especially single people. Because hereÕs the deal: for folks like me who find themselves single by February, Spring Festival is not a joyous occasion. ItÕs a time for conjuring up imaginary boyfriends with names like Pete Yang or Anderson Lin, hiring male escorts who look smart instead of hot, marrying the next warm body you find, and if all else fails, having plastic surgery and changing your name so your family can never find you. For desperate times call for desperate measures, and there is no period of time more desperate for single Chinese females over the age of thirty everywhere than the Annual -Spinster—Shaming Festival, a.k.a. Chinese New Year.

    God help us persecuted singletons; God help us allÑspring is coming.

    It was noon. Linda Mei Reyes and I were sitting in a car in front of our auntÕs house in matching updos, smoking kreteks and hunched over our smartphones as we crammed for the toughest interview that we would face this year, the ÒWhy Are You Still Single in Your Thirties, You Disappointment to Your AncestorsÓ inquisition. Our interrogators lay in wait, and they were legion. The Tangs, our family, were very prolific breeders.

    Each year, as was customary on the second day of Chinese New Year, Auntie Wei Wei would host a lavish luncheon for all the -Singapore—based Tangs. These luncheons were mandatory Family Time: everyone had to show their faces if they were in town; the only acceptable escape clauses being death, disability, a -job—related trip, or the loss of oneÕs job (in which case you might as well be dead). If youÕre wondering why Auntie Wei Wei commanded such power, aside from the fact that she was housing our clanÕs living deity (Grandma Tang), itÕs because she was our clanÕs Godfather, minus the snazzy horse head deliveries. Many of the older Tangs were in her debt: not only did she act as the familyÕs unofficial private bank for the favored few, sheÕd basically raised the lot of them after my grandfather passed away in the 1950s and left my grandmother destitute. As the eldest of a brood of nine siblings, Auntie Wei Wei had dropped out of secondary school and worked two jobs to help defray household expenses. ThatÕs how her siblings all managed to finish their secondary schooling, and for some of the higher achievers, university, even as it came at her own expense.

    At least karma had rewarded her sacrifice. After migrating to Singapore in her late twenties, she had married well, against the odds, to a successful businessman; when he died soon after (of entirely natural causes), sheÕd inherited several tracts of land, the sale of which had made her, and her only daughter, Helen, -eye—wateringly wealthy. Hence her unassailable position as de facto matriarch of the Tang clan, since there is nothing that the Chinese respect more than wealth, especially the kind that might potentially trickle downstream. Posthumously.

    Ever since I moved to Singapore from London...

Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    March 30, 2020
    Ho’s witty, slow-burning debut opens on the holiday dreaded by Southeast Asian singles across the world—Chinese New Year. After Andrea Tang, the last single woman in her family, is forced to face the “‘Why Are You Still Single in Your Thirties, You Disappointment to Your Ancestors” inquisition, she leaves the family gathering more determined than ever to become a partner at her Singapore law firm and somehow find a man who will meet her family’s expectations. In humorous diary entries, Andrea details her awkward dating app encounters and near-constant hangovers. Before long, she’s caught between two potential suitors: Eric Deng, a handsome entrepreneur her family is sure to approve of, and her work rival, Suresh Aditparan, who she can’t seem to get out of her head even though her family would not approve because he’s not Chinese. Though Andrea’s obliviousness to her own and others’ emotions becomes increasingly frustrating as she struggles to choose between her head and her heart, this fun, upbeat tale remains entertaining throughout. Ho’s cute, quippy love story is sure to captivate rom-com fans. Agent: Allison Hunter, Janklow & Nesbit.

  • Kirkus

    April 1, 2020
    A woman in her 30s contends with her family's expectations as she navigates career and romance in Singapore. Andrea Tang is 33 and single, much to her mother's chagrin. Andrea knows her family expected her to be married with children by now, but she's still reeling from a nasty breakup with her long-term boyfriend, Ivan, and is more concerned with making partner at her law firm than getting engaged. Readers who enjoy their heroines booze-soaked and battle-worn--especially when the battle is being waged against society's expectations of women, unfair treatment of women in the workplace, and judgmental aunties--will fall hard for fierce yet flawed Andrea. While the diary entries sometimes rely too heavily on dialogue and not enough on Andrea's own thoughts, her inner monologue is the perfect combination of hilariously brash and undeniably honest. She navigates a disastrous one-night stand, her mother's outspoken disapproval of her lifestyle and relationship status, and her best friend's soap-operatic dalliance with a married man with snark levels reminiscent of Bridget Jones herself. Of course, despite clocking 15-hour days at the office and eschewing Tinder, Andrea soon finds herself in a romantic entanglement or two. She unexpectedly connects with extremely eligible bachelor Eric Deng at a lavish book club meeting (complete with outlandish cocktail attire, overflowing champagne flutes, and sashimi freshly sliced by a smiling chef) hosted at his Architectural Digest-worthy home. Eric courts Andrea with fresh bouquets, pricey handbags, and fancy dinners, but she isn't sure whether she can truly commit to the much older, much richer businessman--especially since she still hasn't figured out why she is so drawn to her engaged work rival, Suresh Aditparan, and his popular webcomic series. A lush portrayal of Singapore life filled with vibrant characters and a lovable leading lady readers will root for.

    COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  • Booklist

    April 15, 2020
    At 33, Andrea Tang is living the life she is supposed to live in Singapore; she's up for partner at her law firm, in possession of the latest designer handbag, surrounded by devoted friends, living in a posh apartment. The only thing she hasn't successfully accomplished is landing a husband. When her cousin's engagement leaves her the titular last Tang standing (i.e., unmarried), things start to get real. Competing with office mate Suresh for a promotion while dating handsome and wealthy, marriage-minded entrepreneur Eric, Andrea has to decide what she wants from her life and what happiness means to her. Does she make partner, marry Eric, and live lavishly ever after? Does she quit her job and redirect her life entirely? Is her rivalry with Suresh shifting from antagonism to civility to friendship to something else? Ho's debut is a charming and witty diary of a year in the life of Andrea Tang. It's a good match for fans of The Hating Game, Crazy Rich Asians, and young professional women who feel at a crossroads.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

  • Library Journal

    Starred review from June 1, 2020

    DEBUT You might think that the most stressful aspect of 33-year-old Andrea Tang's life is her nonstop work in pursuit of a partnership at a high-powered law firm. But work, and the annoying coworker who shares her office, takes a back seat to the relentless family pressure to find a husband. She is, after all, the last of the current generation of Tangs to marry, which makes her a disappointment to the more traditional members of her extended Chinese Malaysian family. Andrea's friends encourage online dating, which leads to several awkward encounters, and her nights out leave her with hangovers she has to disguise at work. An encounter at a bizarre (and uproariously funny) book club connects her with billionaire Eric Deng--an impressive catch who would certainly silence any concerns about her spinsterhood. As Andrea's relationship with Eric heats up, an unexpected twist in the form of her frenemy office mate Suresh complicates matters. VERDICT The combination of an appealing lead, a glamorous setting, and relatable, funny portrayals of relationships and workplace politics make this debut one of the must-read escapist pleasures of the summer. Fans of Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians and Sally Thorne's The Hating Game will be dazzled.--Nanette Donohue, Champaign P.L., IL

    Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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