Sophie Go's Lonely Hearts Club

June 27, 2022
Lim (Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop) treads well-worn ground in this tender if derivative tale of a matchmaker and her demanding parents. Sophie Go has returned from Shanghai to her hometown of Toronto to establish her matchmaking business. However, her debut is ruined by her mother, who reveals that Sophie was expelled from matchmaking school after a tragic incident involving a client. Desperate, Sophie offers to matchmake her neighbors, a group of male seniors known as the Old Ducks, in the hope that success with a difficult demographic will draw customers. Meanwhile, Sophie’s parents apply constant emotional and financial pressure. Lim offers promising forays into the psychology of love and intergenerational toxic parenting, but ultimately sinks into the age-old debate over self-happiness versus filial piety, with protracted instances of Sophie’s constant desire to please and placate and a requisite showdown that feels insufficiently cathartic. The saving grace is Sophie’s relationship with the Old Ducks, whose idiosyncrasies and genuine affection for Sophie counterbalance some of the tropes, such as the serendipitous way each Duck finds his mate and the forbidden romance between Sophie and another client. Still, fans of Lim’s earlier works should find in this another welcome match. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency.

June 10, 2024

Having just returned from three years in Shanghai, Sophie Go is Toronto's newest matchmaker--or is she? When it comes out that Sophie never actually graduated from matchmaking school, she becomes an instant pariah in the matchmaking community and struggles to find clients. Then, she discovers the Old Ducks, a group of seven Chinese bachelors, all in their 70s. Hoping to prove her worth as a matchmaker, she sets out to help them find love. Lim's (Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop) latest is a sweet and poignant book about finding oneself and building community. Narrator Annie Q does an exceptional job of voicing characters of all ages and accents, adding atmosphere and humor to this heartfelt tale. Her depiction of Sophie's struggles with grief, loneliness, and loyalty to culture and family is particularly moving. Listeners may also appreciate Lim's engaging portrayal of friendship across generations. VERDICT Fans of Dial A for Aunties and Arsenic and Adobo will enjoy this novel with similar themes of family, culture, and coming from a family of immigrants. This book is full of heart and humor and would be a wonderful addition to any library.--Elyssa Everling

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