The Family Chao: A Novel
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An NPR and Vogue Best Book of the Year
Winner of the 2023 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
One of Literary Hub's and The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of 2022
A Goodreads Readers' Most Anticipated Mystery of 2022
An acclaimed storyteller returns with βa gorgeous and gripping literary mysteryβ that explores βfamily, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American Dreamβ (Jean Kwok).
The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurantβs delicious Americanized Chinese food for thirty-five years, content to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. Whether or not Big Leo Chao is honest, or his wife, Winnie, is happy, their food tastes good and their three sons earned scholarships to respectable colleges. But when the brothers reunite in Haven, the Chao familyβs secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last.
Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found deadβpresumed murderedβand his sons find theyβve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurantβs reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightensβand the family dog meets an unexpected fateβDagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their fatherβs outsized appetites and their own future survival.
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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Lan Samantha Chang is the author of three novels: The Family Chao, Inheritance, and All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost. Her work has been translated into nine languages. The director of the Iowa Writersβ Workshop, she lives in Iowa City.
