The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang
Published February 1st 2022 by W. W. Norton Company
Genre: Cultural heritage fiction, mystery, literary fiction
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's amazing that a chance encounter with a stranger, Zhang Fujian, carrying a small fortune in his bag would lead to the downfall of the Chao family patriarch, owner of the Chao restaurant, and lead to suspicion falling on the three sons. James, the youngest son, helping an old Chinese man at the train station began the turmoil of events. Little did anyone know that the man's blue bag, forgotten in the back of a car, would be removed and transported to different places and cause a major problem for the Chao family.
How the three brothers - master chef Dagou, industrious and ambitious Ming, and college student James - stick together, facing the insults and disdain of their overbearing father during the illness and the death of their mother, and how they rally in each other's defense is admirable. Family secrets also prove fatal in this story.
I enjoyed the characterization of each son, so different from one another, and the denouement of the plot in this domestic drama. There is a murder mystery to be solved, also, but I liked that the brothers join together in the face of being children of immigrants in a small American town, and in the face of possible, pending tragedy.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's amazing that a chance encounter with a stranger, Zhang Fujian, carrying a small fortune in his bag would lead to the downfall of the Chao family patriarch, owner of the Chao restaurant, and lead to suspicion falling on the three sons. James, the youngest son, helping an old Chinese man at the train station began the turmoil of events. Little did anyone know that the man's blue bag, forgotten in the back of a car, would be removed and transported to different places and cause a major problem for the Chao family.
How the three brothers - master chef Dagou, industrious and ambitious Ming, and college student James - stick together, facing the insults and disdain of their overbearing father during the illness and the death of their mother, and how they rally in each other's defense is admirable. Family secrets also prove fatal in this story.
I enjoyed the characterization of each son, so different from one another, and the denouement of the plot in this domestic drama. There is a murder mystery to be solved, also, but I liked that the brothers join together in the face of being children of immigrants in a small American town, and in the face of possible, pending tragedy.
Critics have called The Family Chao a reimagining of The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky.
Book beginning:
For thirty-five years everybody supported Leo Chao's restaurant. Introducing choosy newcomers by showing off some real Chinese food in Haven, Wisconsin.
At 56% of ebook:
Then after Winnie died, someone - one of his brothers, or even one of this parents' friends -would have carried the blue blag out of the hospital and loaded it into a car. And then what?
Memes: The Friday 56. Find any sentence that grabs you on page 56 of your book. Post it, and add your URL to Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.
I like the sound of this. I enjoy family drama's. Wonderful review!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Quite a read!
DeleteSounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/03/friday-56-war-babies-by-rachel-billingham/
Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteSounds like a must read! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by.
DeleteYou have me intrigued. It sounds like a lot is going on in this novel ... but the three brothers banding together in the face of hardships interests me ... like the Brothers Karamazov. I will look for it.
ReplyDeleteMakes me want to read Karamazov again.
DeleteThis one does sound like a good read! Thanks for putting it on my radar. :)
ReplyDeleteHope you get a chance to give us your thoughts on it.
DeleteThis looks like a great read. Might have to check it out! Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteLet us know what you think!
DeleteThis sounds like a good story. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Breana.
DeleteAdding this to my TBR. I sounds great. My quotes from The Island of Sea Women are here
ReplyDeleteShare with us your thought on the book if you read it.
DeleteIt does sound like a brilliant family saga. Will take a look!
ReplyDeleteElza Reads
Hope you like it, Elza.
DeleteI wish you had told us more of why it's like the Brothers K. That's a very intriguing thing to say.
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Three brothers against an overbearing, terrible father, whom one of them is accused of killing. Also, the personalities and characters of the three Chao brothers are similar to the three brothers Karamazov.
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