Paper Wife cover art

Paper Wife

A Novel

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Paper Wife

By: Laila Ibrahim
Narrated by: Nancy Wu
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

From the bestselling author of Yellow Crocus comes a heart-wrenching story about finding strength in a new world.

Southern China, 1923. Desperate to secure her future, Mei Ling’s parents arrange a marriage to a widower in California. To enter the country, she must pretend to be her husband’s first wife - a paper wife.

On the perilous voyage, Mei Ling takes an orphan girl named Siew under her wing. Dreams of a better life in America give Mei Ling the strength to endure the treacherous journey and detainment on Angel Island. But when she finally reaches San Francisco, she’s met with a surprise. Her husband, Chinn Kai Li, is a houseboy, not the successful merchant he led her to believe.

Mei Ling is penniless, pregnant, and bound to a man she doesn’t know. Her fragile marriage is tested further when she discovers that Siew will likely be forced into prostitution. Desperate to rescue Siew, she must convince her husband that an orphan’s life is worth fighting for. Can Mei Ling find a way to make a real family - even if it’s built on a paper foundation?

©2018 Laila Ibrahim. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Family Life Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction United States Marriage
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Yellow Crocus cover art
Sister of Mine cover art
The Palest Ink cover art
The Color of Our Sky cover art
Elizabeth Street cover art
The Covenant of Water cover art
The Last Rose of Shanghai cover art
A Lion in Tails cover art
The Poisonwood Bible cover art
The Elephant Chaser's Daughter cover art
Three Daughters cover art
The Girls with No Names cover art
Letters from a Patchwork Quilt cover art
An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club) cover art
The Women of Chateau Lafayette cover art
The Rent Collector cover art

What listeners say about Paper Wife

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    36
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    37
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

interesting insight into history through fiction

I really enjoyed listening to this story, I have a huge love for Chinese history but was never aware of this part of their American history. very reccomended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A very disturbing and enjoyable listen.

Once I started this book I couldn't stop listening. What an insightful moving look into the life of early Chinese immigration. The emphasis on the strength of females for me made this book a particularly powerful one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Transports to an intriguing time in history

Thoroughly enjoyed this book despite travelling with the protagonist through some heavy life challenges and much change.
Interesting to watch the main character develop through the obstacles & dilemmas life threw at her and see her mature & blossom from innocent girlhood to competent strong womanhood.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A beautifully written story

I really enjoyed this novel, the characters and all of the voice actors in the audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Lovely story

A really lovely story, I was sad when it ended and the ending seemed quite abrupt. I hope there's a second part to this story. I'm glad I listened

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable & informative, but in the end, flat

This was a slow-paced, but ultimately entertaining story. I enjoyed learning about Chinese-American history and the immigration process of the day. Without giving anything away, I felt there could have been more tension in the story: it was wrapped up a little too neatly for me. It felt like the author had a deadline to meet and just - stopped.

I read part of this book and listened to the rest on Audible. I found the narrator’s intonation a little off-putting as she tended to use uptalk which made every sentence sound like a question (?). Once I noticed it, I found it hard to ignore.

Whilst I wished for more - a more complex storyline, more tension, and not such an abrupt ending - I would still recommend this book. I can see this being made into a film.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful