Ava Wong has dutifully filled her role as an Asian-American woman, as expected by her family and society. She was highly successful in school, attended Stanford, and became a lawyer. She married an equally successful man (a transplant surgeon) and has a 2-year-old son. But her life isn’t as perfect as it seems: her marriage is struggling, she’s been on leave from her job since giving birth, and her little boy has some issues.
Life gets more interesting when her roommate from her freshman year at Stanford enters her life again. Winnie Fang was a shy, awkward girl from mainland China back then, and she mysteriously dropped out during finals. Now, Winnie is polished, professional and confident. And she carries some seriously high-end bags.
After a few visits, Winnie confides to Ava how she makes her money. She came up with a clever scheme where she buys real luxury bags at expensive stores, sells them on eBay, and returns well-made replicas from China in their place for refunds. And now she needs Ava’s help.
Ava does help out, and then she gets in deep. It’s all going well, until the operation is discovered. Winnie disappears, and Ava is left holding the bag, so to speak.
Counterfeit is a caper, a con story that’s hard to resist: the setup is so clever. But then there’s a twist or two. Things aren’t quite what they seem for much of this heist book. And that makes it even more intriguing.
This novel is a window into the designer goods industry, which largely takes advantage of low-wage workers in China and sells the items for exorbitant rates to Western shoppers. It’s a look into the huge counterfeit industry that very closely shadows the legitimate one. And it explores the lives of two Asian women who are pushing back against what’s expected of them, who want to make their own way. It’s wry in its exposure of stereotypes of Asians, of a certain set of the wealthy. It’s outrageous and entertaining. A good pick from Reese’s Book Club.
Rated: Moderate, for 3 uses of strong profanity, 5 instances of moderate language, about 10 uses of mild language, and about 10 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content is minimal; there is one sex scene that is a couple of paragraphs long that’s mildly detailed.
