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303 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2022
Leo Chao has been running a restaurant serving Americanized-Chinese food in Haven, Wisconsin since thirty five years. He isn’t honest, his wife Winnie isn’t happy at being the resident unappreciated cook, ad his three sons have taken their distinct paths in life but none of them are truly satisfied. The eldest, Dagou - a man who thinks more from the heart than from the head, attempted music studies before returning to the restaurant as the head chef. The second, Ming – a successful businessman who hates his Chinese roots, struggles between his two identities. The youngest, James – a medical student who is kind and unambitious much to the disappointment of his kin, is stuck in the role of peacemaker.
One Christmas Eve, Leo is found dead in the restaurant freezer, presumed murdered. Soon the three brothers find themselves at the centre of a harsh public eye. How will the change in circumstances change their fates?
The story is written in a third person omniscient narration.
“Are you looking for strange flavours, ethnic exoticism, family hostility, immigrant anxiety, served with a heady dash of hatred?”That’s exactly what you are getting in this story, but with a huge dollop of cultural stereotypes added. I don’t come from Chinese ancestry, and yet I found my blood boiling at the third-rate portrayal of the American Chinese. I wonder how those who belong to this culture would react to this book. None of the characters are depicted in any positive way, with a minor exception of James. Then again, he too is the stereotype of the good Asian boy who wants to study his way up the social hierarchy and make his parents proud of him.