Confucius Jane : A Novel

Confucius Jane by Katie Lynch is a lush and charming novel that vividly depicts New York City's Chinatown while taking the reader on a touching journey of family, community, and love.

On leave from college, Jane Morrow has a new job, helping out in her uncle’s fortune cookie factory, and a new roommate—her precocious 11-year-old cousin. Though surrounded by her loving family and their close-knit Chinatown community, Jane feels like a colossal failure. Writing fortunes is a kind of poetry, but Jane is penning words of wisdom for strangers while wondering if she will ever have the guts to move on with her life.

When Jane meets medical student Sutton St. James at her local noodle shop, sparks fly. Sutton stands at a career crossroads: surgical residency or stem cell research overseas? The first is what her father, former Surgeon General and “America's doctor,” has planned for her, but the latter might help find a cure for her mother’s debilitating MS. Neither would make either of them comfortable with their daughter's sexuality. Sutton’s only certainty is that she has no time for a relationship—yet neither she nor Jane can deny the chemistry between them.

Jane opens a whole new view of family to Sutton, a powerful counter to Sutton’s cold, sterile upbringing. Sutton inspires Jane to be more ambitious and to dream again—and challenges her to have faith in herself. But can Sutton and Jane overcome a scandalous secret that threatens to keep them apart?

“Prediction: Those with the good fortune to read Confucius Jane will fall in love with Katie Lynch's singular heroines. What a charmer of a novel!” —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author

“A thoroughly charming and refreshingly confident story about forging your own path to home and family—however you define them...her vibrant, wholly unique characters are a joy to meet and discover. One can only hope that Lynch has more stories to share because it is certain that this novel will win her a number of devoted fans.”—RT Book Reviews (Top Pick!)

"A fresh, surprising and lovely take on modern love. Sometimes poignant, sometimes brutally funny, and always entertaining, this novel is going to make readers very happy. Lynch writes honestly and from the heart about the things that matter most in life.”—Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author

“Lynch creates an unconventional and likable heroine in Jane. And while it’s obvious that the two women will end up together, the story of how they find their way back to each other is sweet and compelling.”—Booklist

“A solid modern romance that expresses the gamut of emotions iinvolved at the start of a new relationship. The vibrant descriptions of Manhattan’s diverse community will please fans of GBT stories and those who enjoy Asian American protagonists.”—Library Journal

“In this charming debut, which straddles the line between romance and women’s fiction, two women attempt to juggle life, love, and their careers...The protagonists’ chemistry and Lynch’s knack for description and setting provide a delightful beginning and middle, with an adorable meet cute in a noodle shop facilitated by Jane’s precocious, scene-stealing cousin."—Publisher’s Weekly