Book Blurb:
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 answers.
My Review: 4.25 stars
Real Americans by Rachel Khong is a novel that will sweep you away through time in three parts, each a new point of view in different time periods.
I thought this book would strictly be about the Chinese American experience, period. I did not realize that there would be an underlying a scientific aspect that tied all three parts of the book together. I loved that! What an unusual and unlikely surprise. Books that have genetic sub-plots are fascinating to me.
Because I listened to this on audio, I wasn’t aware that the book was told in parts. It was interesting to learn what information each character was privy to and how they interpreted it. Although each part was well-written, I think I related to Nick and Mei the most, which is odd because they are the youngest and oldest characters.
There were many themes running through this novel: privilege, classism, belonging, assimilation, racism, damning secrets, complicated mother/daughter relationships, gene experimentation and more. Yep, there was a lot to take in. Some of these themes got much attention, while others just skimmed the surface. I guess if the author went deep for all the touchstones mentioned the book would be way too long.
Overall, this is an original and complexly layered story. I think the consequences of how we see ourselves and how we assume others see us will be a huge talking point for bookclubs.
Quotes I liked:
If I could turn every worry over, I might come to the correct decision.”
“I’d thought transporting me to another setting was all that was needed to render me normal. I’d failed to consider that I might be the same person here.”
“This was what love had always been for me – denying your own reality in order to protect another person.”
“People always call Die Hard a Christmas movie… But it’s arguably a Hanukkah movie. About persistence in the face of oppression.”
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