Real Americans: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?
"Mesmerizing"—Brit Bennett • "A page turner.”—Ha Jin • “Gorgeous, heartfelt, soaring, philosophical and deft"—Andrew Sean Greer • "Traverses time with verve and feeling."—Raven Leilani
Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than it provides answers.
In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.
Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made? And if we are made, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?
"Mesmerizing"—Brit Bennett • "A page turner.”—Ha Jin • “Gorgeous, heartfelt, soaring, philosophical and deft"—Andrew Sean Greer • "Traverses time with verve and feeling."—Raven Leilani
Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than it provides answers.
In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.
Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made? And if we are made, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?
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Community Reviews
thenextgoodbook.com
What’s it about?
This novel weaves two separate families (through three generations) together to form a cohesive story. The Chen’s have immigrated from China to escape Mao’s Cultural Revolution. They are both geneticists that long to further science. The Maier family have been in America for generations and are heirs to the Maier pharmaceutical fortune. They also wish to see Science progress. So when Lily Chen meets Matthew Maier who knows what to expect?
What did it make me think about?
Choices.
Should I read it?
I fell in love with Rachel Khong’s writing about three pages into “Goodbye Vitamin”. Her characters are so vivid and so well-imagined. They do not always follow the path you envision- but they sure make for interesting stories. She manages to take present day issues and weave them seamlessly into her stories. It is much easier to step back and consider these issues from the character’s perspective. I am so happy to see her getting some hype for her latest book. “Real Americans” is already on my list for favorites of 2024. If you love a good family story with depth- then pick this one up.
Quote-
“Once she had believed that connection meant sameness, consensus, harmony. Having everything in common. And now she understood that the opposite was true: that connection was more valuable- more remarkable- for the fact of differences. Friendship didn’t require blunting the richness of yourself to find common ground. Sometimes it was that, but it was also appreciating another person, in all their particularity.”
What’s it about?
This novel weaves two separate families (through three generations) together to form a cohesive story. The Chen’s have immigrated from China to escape Mao’s Cultural Revolution. They are both geneticists that long to further science. The Maier family have been in America for generations and are heirs to the Maier pharmaceutical fortune. They also wish to see Science progress. So when Lily Chen meets Matthew Maier who knows what to expect?
What did it make me think about?
Choices.
Should I read it?
I fell in love with Rachel Khong’s writing about three pages into “Goodbye Vitamin”. Her characters are so vivid and so well-imagined. They do not always follow the path you envision- but they sure make for interesting stories. She manages to take present day issues and weave them seamlessly into her stories. It is much easier to step back and consider these issues from the character’s perspective. I am so happy to see her getting some hype for her latest book. “Real Americans” is already on my list for favorites of 2024. If you love a good family story with depth- then pick this one up.
Quote-
“Once she had believed that connection meant sameness, consensus, harmony. Having everything in common. And now she understood that the opposite was true: that connection was more valuable- more remarkable- for the fact of differences. Friendship didn’t require blunting the richness of yourself to find common ground. Sometimes it was that, but it was also appreciating another person, in all their particularity.”
I didn't know what to expect about this book, but I really liked it. I was interested right away. It is told in 3 parts, with 3 different POV's. Part one is Lily, a single mom. I liked her story; she was hard working and ambitious. Part two is Nick's story; he is Lily's son, and I think I liked his story best. At times I felt so sad for him. Part three is Mei's story; she is the grandmother. I liked the background story. I knew nothing about the Chinese cultural revolution so that was interesting to read to me. She was very smart and wanted to do research. That's where her story got a bit hard for me to understand. She immigrates to America with her husband and is doing research on genetics. Although it was interesting, I just didn't understand what it all meant. I'm not a science person.
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