Everything I Never Told You
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year • A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • Winner of the Alex Award and the Massachusetts Book Award • Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, Entertainment Weekly, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Grantland Booklist, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Shelf Awareness, Book Riot, School Library Journal, Bustle, and Time Our New York
The acclaimed debut novel by the author of Little Fires Everywhere and Our Missing Hearts
“A taut tale of ever deepening and quickening suspense.” —O, the Oprah Magazine
“Explosive . . . Both a propulsive mystery and a profound examination of a mixed-race family.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
The acclaimed debut novel by the author of Little Fires Everywhere and Our Missing Hearts
“A taut tale of ever deepening and quickening suspense.” —O, the Oprah Magazine
“Explosive . . . Both a propulsive mystery and a profound examination of a mixed-race family.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *Everything I Never Told You* is a moving, character-driven family drama exploring identity, racial tensions, and generational trauma, pra...
The first sentence of the book is a giveaway. We think at this point that we know it all and the book will just be this is what happened and why, which it is to some extent, but not like in a mystery or a whodunnit. This is about a family who does not know itself and who leaves unsaid all of the things that must and should be said. It will leave you feeling wrung out but ultimately hopeful for them.
Heartbreaking story about family, loss, missed opportunities, and misunderstandings. We never really know each other.
I enjoyed this story, but I think that there were way too many topics that intersect in it. Racial, generational, LGBT, and feminist issues all pop up, but, then again, they do in everyday life. Each person isn't just one thing, and this family certainly isn't, either.
I would recommend the book. It is definitely worth reading.
I would recommend the book. It is definitely worth reading.
Interesting book that gives insights on growing up Chinese in a white washed town in the 1960’s.
A haunting look at dreams that we have that don’t come to fruition and how those can be displaced on children.
A haunting look at dreams that we have that don’t come to fruition and how those can be displaced on children.
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