Fiona and Jane – Jean Chen Ho

Mae Fiona Lin a Jane Shen wedi bod yn ffrindiau gorau ers plentyndod a’n [archwilio] priffyrdd a bariau Los Angeles gyda’i gilydd trwy eu harddegau, yn cario creithiau gorffennol eu teuluoedd gyda nhw. Pan mae Fiona yn symud i Efrog Newydd i ofalu am ffrind, mae Jane yn aros yng Nghaliffornia ac yn galaru am farwolaeth sydyn ei thad, ac yn y broses yn dieithrio ei chariad. Wedi’u straenio gan bellter a brad anfwriadol, mae’r merched yn arnofio i mewn a mas o fywydau ei gilydd, eu cyfeillgarwch yn atgof o’r cyfan y maent wedi golli. Mae casgliad cyntaf Jean Chen Ho yn tynnu yn ôl yr haenau o gyfeillgarwch benywaidd – y dwyster, y dicter, a chariad – i archwilio calonnau curo merched ifanc yn dod i delerau â’u hunain, ac â’i gilydd, yng ngoleuni yr ansicrwydd a’r cywilydd sy’n eu dal yn ôl.

Best friends since second grade, Fiona Lin and Jane Shen explore the lonely highways and seedy bars of Los Angeles together through their teenage years, surviving unfulfilling romantic encounters, and carrying with them the scars of their families’ tumultuous pasts. Fiona was always destined to leave, her effortless beauty burnished by fierce ambition – qualities that Jane admired and feared in equal measure. When Fiona moves to New York and cares for a sick friend through a breakup with an opportunistic boyfriend, Jane remains in California and grieves her estranged father’s sudden death, in the process alienating an overzealous girlfriend. Strained by distance and unintended betrayals, the women float in and out of each other’s lives, their friendship both a beacon of home and a reminder of all they’ve lost. In stories told in alternating voices, Jean Chen Ho’s debut collection peels back the layers of female friendship – the intensity, resentment, and boundless love – to probe the beating hearts of young women coming to terms with themselves, and each other, in light of the insecurities and shame that holds them back.