Here's a contemporary contender for the title of The Great American Novel, a rich three generation family saga which tackles some big issues in a highly readable, straightforward way.
Malaysian-born California resident Rachel Khong gained much critical acclaim for her debut "Goodbye Vitamin" (2017) and her reputation can only be further enhanced with this.
In a mix of first and third-person narratives and featuring sections spanning from 1966 to 2030 we settle down with Lucy, aged 22, American born of Chinese heritage in 1999 working as an unpaid intern for an online travel magazine. An office party had me anxious for her, recalling "Jaded" by Ela Lee (2024) but here it's the place Lucy meets Matthew, the nephew of her boss.
There's a lot of wealth in this novel although perhaps the more appropriate term is fortune, in the sense of both money and good luck and in the sense that some are just born fortunate. This sense of privilege does not extend to Lucy's parents who started afresh from Communist China. There's a lot on appearance and as the novel moves towards a not too distant future the work on genetics which lies behind much of the money takes a darker turn as gene therapy shifts towards polygenic screening- the creation of the most healthiest and most intelligent.
But more to the forefront is a detailed family piece showing the choices open to each of the three generations of the Chen family and the decisions made from these choices. Each feel they have some ability to briefly disrupt time in a world where time is running away from us all. The reason for this comes from an almost mystical encounter between Lucy's mother and a lotus flower seed.
As suggested by the title it all feels very American but it is an America enriched by the cultural experiences of those not born in the country working alongside traditional white privilege with the edge of how fiddling around with DNA might affect all our futures. It works well as both family drama, a record of how we came to be and posits a scientific view of what might await us in our futures. Reassuringly, Rachel Khong leaves us with a feeling of hope and a belief in the value of family.
Real Americans is published by Hutchinson Heinemann in the UK on April 30th 2024. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.
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