Issue: March 10, 2014 Story: "A Sheltered Woman" Author: Yiyun Li Seems like this is the New Yorker's tri-annual "old Chinese lady" story. While I have absolutely nothing against "old" people (especially because I'm gradually becoming one), or Chinese people, or ladies, stories about old Chinese ladies generally do not raise my pulse. However, I'm glad I maintain the fortitude to push through my lunkheaded-ness in approaching these types of stories, because there is something really, really engaging and instructive to be found here. The story follows a month in the life of Auntie Mei, a Chinese nanny living in San Francisco, where she cares for the infant children of well-off Chinese immigrants for the first months of their lives. She also cares for the new mothers just as much, schooling them in the ways of motherhood and nursing them back to full strength. In this story, Auntie Mei has encountered Chanel, a young mother who seduce
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