Quote A, "So there was much controversy about it here in Germany, but sadly I can't point you to any articles, as they are all in German. Nice to see that somebody liked it, and especially a foreigner."

I am not sure if I like it that much ... hiaks hiaks
that was why I wandered between "above average" to "recommended" ...

I guess I was more forgiving because I assumed it was told from the perspective of the female protagonist ... and not from an objective story telling point of view ...

I suspect there is controversy over ...
(i) how the "foreign culture" is depicted (i.e., not too favorably) ... that was why in the end, she abandoned them ...
(ii) everything seems more justifiable from her perspective and less reasonable involving the other culture ...

Such approach is often "risky" ...

Yet, the book (or film) is popular ... because ...
(i) (I suspect) people are always keen to understand "true stories" about cross cultural relationship ...
(ii) also, (I suspect) many women do find strength in the female protagonist ... i.e., how she overcame so much odds to survive and support her daughter ...