Weed Memorial & Hollander Branch Book Discussion via Zoom: Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim

Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim

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 voyage, Mei Ling takes in an orphan girl named Siew under her wing. Dreams of a better life in America give Mei Ling the strength to endure the journey. But when she finally reaches San Francisco, she realizes her husband, Chinn Kai Li, is not the successful merchant he led her to believe.

Mei Ling is 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. Mei Ling 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?