Women of Good Fortune

DEBUT Three friends prepare for a lavish society wedding in Shanghai in Wan’s first novel. Lulu, the bride-to-be, is not in love with her fiancé, and her future wealthy in-laws are unkind, but family pressure is pushing her to go through with the ceremony. Her friends Jane and Rina are also unhappy, and the three hatch a plot to steal the wedding gift money and start their lives over. The plot, beginning 10 months before the wedding and counting down to the big day, is breezy and non-demanding. The friends just need to assemble a crew and come up with a foolproof plan. While romance does feature in the story, the focus is more on the friendship among the three women as they navigate their personal problems: for instance, Jane’s marriage is troubled and she wants to break out, while Rina is struggling with fertility issues and work-life balance at a job where she’s perennially passed over. The internal struggles of the three friends are more interesting than the heist plot.