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Award-winning poet Jennifer Tseng's debut novel Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness is the tale of one book-loving woman on the verge, and at last, at play. "A sizzling fuse of a novel, with an explosion bigger and better than anything you can imagine." -Sara Levine, author of Treasure Island!!! Buy Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness from Bookshop Santa Cruz, Brookline Booksmith, Bookculture, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Elliott Bay Book Company, Greenlight Bookstore, Harvard Book Store, Hatchards, Papercuts J.P., Pegasus Books, Politics & Prose, Strand, The Vermont Book Shop, Women & Children First or from another fine independent bookstore somewhere in the world. Read an excerpt, at the Asian American Writers' Workshop. |
Praise for Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness...
"It is impossible to resist the seductive pull
of Tseng's novel, which dares to imagine with a
radical degree of attention the force of a 41-
year-old woman's desire. I found myself happily
in thrall to the gorgeous language and bold vision
of this ravishing book.”
-Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, author of Ms. Hempel Chronicles
“Jennifer Tseng delivers an elegant exploration
of passion and its consequences while casting her
observant eye on motherhood, memory, exile, and
female friendship. Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness
is carnal, witty, and slyly crafted.”
-Sara Levine, author of Treasure Island!!!
"Mayumi’s trespasses and thrills are so deeply
imagined that I lived her affair with her, cheering
her even as I knew I would drown with her in her
ecstasy. This book’s fierce physicality glitters
beneath the surface of every heady sentence.”
-Susanna Daniel, author of Stiltsville and Sea Creatures
"A sense of longing suffuses Tseng's sexy…debut
novel about a 41-year-old librarian [Mayumi Saito]
who embarks on an affair with a shy, handsome high
school student. Aware of the dangers and abashed at
the Nabokov-ian overtones, Mayumi nevertheless handily
introduces the young man, whom she never names, to the
pleasures of sex and literature. Tseng explores time
and place, isolation and connection, and veers more
toward the lyrical than the lurid.”
-Kirkus Reviews
"This correlation of the joys of reading with other
sensual pleasures – the natural world, eating, physical
intimacy – suffuses Jennifer Tseng’s debut novel Mayumi
and the Sea of Happiness, a book that somehow manages
to feel at once voluptuous and spare."
-The Island Review
"If Ferrante’s novels succeed in bringing more
attention to the others from her U.S. publisher,
Europa Editions, I’ll be delighted. This debut novel
by an established poet is one example of why. Tseng’s
tale of a love affair between a 41-year-old woman and
the son of her friend could be trite, but is
incredibly moving, lyrical and poignant."
-The Fiscal Times
"A provocative novel well worth adding to your
summer packing list."
-Elle Magazine
"Tseng's lyrical prose turns a story that could
be lurid into a meditation on the power of pleasure
to transform our lives."
-Huffington Post
"Tseng does the cross-generational relationship
absolutely beautifully. Mayumi and the Sea of
Happiness is an accomplished novel of obsession,
aloneness, fulfillment and loss; it is also about
motherhood, friendship and generosity. And best
of all, it is screamingly funny a lot of the time
...the novel is stunning and the dénouement perfect.
If you like your narrators wordy, nerdy, funny and
lovable, and your sex scenes uncompromising,
this is the book for you."
-Nuala O'Connor, author of Joy Ride to Jupiter
"Drenched in literature, rich with contemplation,
Tseng’s first novel is wryly observant,
compulsively readable and dangerously passionate.
Mayumi is a 41-year old small town librarian, married,
a mother, and stuck in the mundane, when she falls
inexplicably in love with a young man. What follows
is a beautifully written meditative romp through
the seasons of lust, obsession and love. As real
as it is metaphorical, Tseng writes on many levels,
making for a most complex and satisfying read."
-Bookshop Santa Cruz
"Like Nabokov’s iconic Lolita, to which Mayumi
tips its hat, the unlikely affair is consummated
(This is only a minimal spoiler, as it occurs early
on). The lovers find a seasonally abandoned cabin
by a waterfall, and they throw themselves into
numerous trysts. As with Lolita, wherein the idea
of a grownup luring a minor into sex is repellent
and illegal, somehow this storyline, in the hands
of this masterful writer, works."
-MV Times
"Those expecting a typical crime and punishment
story, or those who need to see the scales balanced
after every transgression, will likely be unsettled
by Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness. But those who
enjoy existential examinations of transgression will
find so much to enjoy here. This is a confession
that reads like an exultation, and Mayumi’s gleeful
admissions will likely keep the reader turning pages
at the kind of speed that inspires papercuts."
-Seattle Review of Books
"To this book’s great credit, the story of the
affair doesn’t unreel in any predictable ways.
Though as erotically charged as you might expect,
this story seems to be as much about isolation and
what we do—or don’t do—to overcome it as it is
about fulfilling desires."
-Small Press Picks
"The novel is compelling and beautifully written.
Once I started reading, it was difficult to stop.
Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness is about a woman
risking everything for pleasure, but it’s also
about the consolation of other pleasures, such as
great books and unexpected friendship."
-Tufts Now
"It is impossible to resist the seductive pull
of Tseng's novel, which dares to imagine with a
radical degree of attention the force of a 41-
year-old woman's desire. I found myself happily
in thrall to the gorgeous language and bold vision
of this ravishing book.”
-Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, author of Ms. Hempel Chronicles
“Jennifer Tseng delivers an elegant exploration
of passion and its consequences while casting her
observant eye on motherhood, memory, exile, and
female friendship. Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness
is carnal, witty, and slyly crafted.”
-Sara Levine, author of Treasure Island!!!
"Mayumi’s trespasses and thrills are so deeply
imagined that I lived her affair with her, cheering
her even as I knew I would drown with her in her
ecstasy. This book’s fierce physicality glitters
beneath the surface of every heady sentence.”
-Susanna Daniel, author of Stiltsville and Sea Creatures
"A sense of longing suffuses Tseng's sexy…debut
novel about a 41-year-old librarian [Mayumi Saito]
who embarks on an affair with a shy, handsome high
school student. Aware of the dangers and abashed at
the Nabokov-ian overtones, Mayumi nevertheless handily
introduces the young man, whom she never names, to the
pleasures of sex and literature. Tseng explores time
and place, isolation and connection, and veers more
toward the lyrical than the lurid.”
-Kirkus Reviews
"This correlation of the joys of reading with other
sensual pleasures – the natural world, eating, physical
intimacy – suffuses Jennifer Tseng’s debut novel Mayumi
and the Sea of Happiness, a book that somehow manages
to feel at once voluptuous and spare."
-The Island Review
"If Ferrante’s novels succeed in bringing more
attention to the others from her U.S. publisher,
Europa Editions, I’ll be delighted. This debut novel
by an established poet is one example of why. Tseng’s
tale of a love affair between a 41-year-old woman and
the son of her friend could be trite, but is
incredibly moving, lyrical and poignant."
-The Fiscal Times
"A provocative novel well worth adding to your
summer packing list."
-Elle Magazine
"Tseng's lyrical prose turns a story that could
be lurid into a meditation on the power of pleasure
to transform our lives."
-Huffington Post
"Tseng does the cross-generational relationship
absolutely beautifully. Mayumi and the Sea of
Happiness is an accomplished novel of obsession,
aloneness, fulfillment and loss; it is also about
motherhood, friendship and generosity. And best
of all, it is screamingly funny a lot of the time
...the novel is stunning and the dénouement perfect.
If you like your narrators wordy, nerdy, funny and
lovable, and your sex scenes uncompromising,
this is the book for you."
-Nuala O'Connor, author of Joy Ride to Jupiter
"Drenched in literature, rich with contemplation,
Tseng’s first novel is wryly observant,
compulsively readable and dangerously passionate.
Mayumi is a 41-year old small town librarian, married,
a mother, and stuck in the mundane, when she falls
inexplicably in love with a young man. What follows
is a beautifully written meditative romp through
the seasons of lust, obsession and love. As real
as it is metaphorical, Tseng writes on many levels,
making for a most complex and satisfying read."
-Bookshop Santa Cruz
"Like Nabokov’s iconic Lolita, to which Mayumi
tips its hat, the unlikely affair is consummated
(This is only a minimal spoiler, as it occurs early
on). The lovers find a seasonally abandoned cabin
by a waterfall, and they throw themselves into
numerous trysts. As with Lolita, wherein the idea
of a grownup luring a minor into sex is repellent
and illegal, somehow this storyline, in the hands
of this masterful writer, works."
-MV Times
"Those expecting a typical crime and punishment
story, or those who need to see the scales balanced
after every transgression, will likely be unsettled
by Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness. But those who
enjoy existential examinations of transgression will
find so much to enjoy here. This is a confession
that reads like an exultation, and Mayumi’s gleeful
admissions will likely keep the reader turning pages
at the kind of speed that inspires papercuts."
-Seattle Review of Books
"To this book’s great credit, the story of the
affair doesn’t unreel in any predictable ways.
Though as erotically charged as you might expect,
this story seems to be as much about isolation and
what we do—or don’t do—to overcome it as it is
about fulfilling desires."
-Small Press Picks
"The novel is compelling and beautifully written.
Once I started reading, it was difficult to stop.
Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness is about a woman
risking everything for pleasure, but it’s also
about the consolation of other pleasures, such as
great books and unexpected friendship."
-Tufts Now
