Henk, Mebel’s son Sammy, and Sammy’s wife Hannah surprise Mebel by turning up in England to ask her to come back home. She refuses. (Chapter 17). How did you react to this scene? Of the adults present – Henk, Sammy, Hannah, and Mebel herself – whose reaction surprised you the most?
Again, I liked how this was addressed. I’m so glad Mebel saw through the encounter for what it was and didn’t alter her educational plan. I did fear she was going to cave, but where would the lesson be if that was the choice she made? I think Sammy could be persuaded either way depending on what Mebel wanted. I’m just not sure he anticipated that she would want to continue on her own path. He assumed she wanted to go home with Henk, but to his surprise, that wasn’t the case. Thank goodness!
I did not expect this scene. I was disappointed in the children because they knew what Mebel went through to be something other than a trophy wife, and they also knew the circumstances of Henk leaving.
Sammy surprised me the most especially when asked about Wendy he says …”does it matter? She’s not in our lives anymore.” I am not sure why he wanted his mom to reconcile. Was it for selfish reasons? He did not want a broken family?
It felt to me like an intervention. Although Mebel had always stated that she wanted Henk back and this was her chance … she read through the lines and fought for herself. She was always quick thinking, but now she had the self confidence she needed to stand up for herself and not obey the men in her family simply because it was her duty. I loved how she encouraged Hannah to raise her girls differently than she and Hannah had been raised, and Hannah gave enough of a nod that Mebel knew she understood how important it is to be your own person with desires and passions, gifts and talents.
I was proud of Mebel for the position she took to her family’s request that she come home. Disappointed but not surprised at Sammy’s reaction but loved Mebel’s response to him, specifically, her comment about him being raised as a spoiled Chinese boy.
I loved this scene! I was glad that Mebel reacted the way she did. I was a bit surprised by the reactions of Sammy and Hannah because I thought they might have been a bit more progressive in their thinking based upon the little we had seen of them earlier in the book.
My thought was “you go, girl!” I couldn’t believe they had the nerve to show up and expect Mebel to drop everything and return to her old life as if nothing had happened. I was angry that Henk felt this whole culinary experience was done in an effort to please him and win him back. I was so happy that Mebel saw this and made up her mind to end her role as a trophy wife and move on to being a person in her own right and follow her own path.
I was encouraged by Mebel’s growth. The reactions of the other adults didn’t surprise me.
I loved that scene because I was so proud of her for sticking to her guns, especially because she had continued to say her reasons for learning to cook were to win back Henk, so when she took that moment to realize that she didn’t actually WANT Henk back after what he put her through I was so happy for her.
Honestly I was very surprised by her son and her daughter in law both. I thought the son may have been a bit more understanding after his original reaction to Henk leaving, so when he seemed to turn on Mebel and try to imply that it would be her fault I was so disappointed in him.
And the daughter in law surprised me because she had always been so dutiful, so when she started showing a bit of backbone during this scene and later, it made me very proud of her.
Of the adults present, Mebel’s reaction surprised me the most. She had grown as a person over the course of the book and stood up for herself. The reason for going to cooking school was to get Henk back and mission accomplished! Now Mebel took a stand for herself and told Henk and Sammy that she was not interested. Way to go, Mebel.
This scene made me really dislike Sammy. And feel bad for Hannah. It was like I could see 25 years into Hannah’s future, and was hoping that she started taking some space in her own marriage now.
I was proud of Mebel’s stance and refusal to return. Through adversity she had gained enough self confidence to stand up for herself and continue with the challenges of cooking school and all that entailed. Sammy would not be changing his view because he really was a spoiled boy and any independence from a wife was not to be tolerated or understood. Hannah, on the other hand, might have learned something from the encounter which she could instill in her daughters if not acting upon it herself.