The Family Chao: A Novel
Acclaimed storyteller Lan Samantha Chang returns with “a gorgeous and gripping literary mystery” that explores “family, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American Dream” (Jean Kwok). Brimming with heartbreak, comedy, and suspense, The Family Chao offers a kaleidoscopic, highly entertaining portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with the dark undercurrents of a seemingly pleasant small town.
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What’s it about?
In this loose version of “The Brothers Karamazov” we meet the family Chao. The Chao’s run the local Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin. When the youngest son James comes home from college, just in time for the annual Christmas party, he finds his mother has left his tyrannical father and moved into a Spiritual House to seek enlightenment. When Leo Chao (the father) turns up dead on Christmas morning Dagou (the eldest son) is charged with murder. Much like “The Brothers Karamozov” there is a trial and we learn all kinds of interesting facts about the Chao’s.
What did it make me think about?
This book was part family drama and part mystery. So who killed Leo Chao and why?
Should I read it?
I enjoyed this book. It was full of interesting characters, a solid mystery, and it all centered around the particular perspectives of three first-generation immigrants. I would recommend this to anyone who is partial to character driven stories.
Quote-
“But doesn’t every family have its own closed windows and closed doors? Isn’t every family a walled fortress of stories unknown even to its neighbors? “
What’s it about?
In this loose version of “The Brothers Karamazov” we meet the family Chao. The Chao’s run the local Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin. When the youngest son James comes home from college, just in time for the annual Christmas party, he finds his mother has left his tyrannical father and moved into a Spiritual House to seek enlightenment. When Leo Chao (the father) turns up dead on Christmas morning Dagou (the eldest son) is charged with murder. Much like “The Brothers Karamozov” there is a trial and we learn all kinds of interesting facts about the Chao’s.
What did it make me think about?
This book was part family drama and part mystery. So who killed Leo Chao and why?
Should I read it?
I enjoyed this book. It was full of interesting characters, a solid mystery, and it all centered around the particular perspectives of three first-generation immigrants. I would recommend this to anyone who is partial to character driven stories.
Quote-
“But doesn’t every family have its own closed windows and closed doors? Isn’t every family a walled fortress of stories unknown even to its neighbors? “
A very complex family drama that slowly draws you in and once it has its hold on you, you can't stop reading. We have a murder of the patriarch of the Chao family, Leo Chao. Nobody seems to be all that upset about this demise. Not his wife, nor any of his sons. But in a town called Haven, Wisconsin, the residents have been introduced to real Chinese food for the past 35 years. Somebody has to be responsible, but who. When the brothers reunite in Haven, the Chao family’s secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last, and how they thought they were accepted now makes them question how they are truly viewed when the curtains are lifted. Not even their dog is safe.
We delve into the complex layers within this family and see all that it took for the parents Leo and Winnie to become Americans and how to assimilate. Yet they hung onto their roots and with that, comes resentment and anger from all sides. Often the times of understanding our parents' generation, especially when some are American born, it is hard to relate to our elder’s point of view.
The first half of the book sets the stage and delves into each of the characters but it’s the trial that made it go from 3 to 3.5.
Two words to describe this book: Black aura
⚠️Triggering topics: It highlights anti-Asian racism and questions the American Dream.
We delve into the complex layers within this family and see all that it took for the parents Leo and Winnie to become Americans and how to assimilate. Yet they hung onto their roots and with that, comes resentment and anger from all sides. Often the times of understanding our parents' generation, especially when some are American born, it is hard to relate to our elder’s point of view.
The first half of the book sets the stage and delves into each of the characters but it’s the trial that made it go from 3 to 3.5.
Two words to describe this book: Black aura
⚠️Triggering topics: It highlights anti-Asian racism and questions the American Dream.
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