What do you think?
Rate this book
Livonia Chow Mein
In the vein of Happiness Falls and Family Lore, a gripping story of family history and political upheaval centered around a Chinese family-owned restaurant in Brownsville, Brooklyn and its impact on the neighborhood’s Jewish and Black residents over the course of a century.
In 1978, two tenements on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville burn to the ground, killing one resident and displacing dozens of others. It remains unclear who set the buildings ablaze, but the survivors are convinced the culprit is Mr. Wong.
Who exactly is Mr. Wong, and what allegedly drove him to this extraordinary act of violence, is the question that consumes this novel as it plunges into four generations of Wong family history. First is Koon Lai, an immigrant who runs a Chinese restaurant on Livonia Avenue; second, his son Richard, a man desperate for his own chance at the American Dream; and third, Jason, a poet who seeks his escape in the bohemian counterculture of the 1970s, but finds himself an unwitting participant in Brooklyn’s gentrification. In the 21st century, Jason’s daughter Sadie returns to Brownsville as a journalist, determined to unravel the mystery of what happened decades earlier on the night the buildings blazed.
Joining together the present and the past is the community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, who was also displaced by that fire and who has spent the intervening years fighting for the rights of Brownsville’s residents and organizing a Livonia Avenue community land trust.
A stunning debut from a new talent, Livonia Chow Mein contemplates how the American pursuit of freedom relies on a collective amnesia and challenges us to consider what it would take for us to truly live in harmony.
In 1978, two tenements on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville burn to the ground, killing one resident and displacing dozens of others. It remains unclear who set the buildings ablaze, but the survivors are convinced the culprit is Mr. Wong.
Who exactly is Mr. Wong, and what allegedly drove him to this extraordinary act of violence, is the question that consumes this novel as it plunges into four generations of Wong family history. First is Koon Lai, an immigrant who runs a Chinese restaurant on Livonia Avenue; second, his son Richard, a man desperate for his own chance at the American Dream; and third, Jason, a poet who seeks his escape in the bohemian counterculture of the 1970s, but finds himself an unwitting participant in Brooklyn’s gentrification. In the 21st century, Jason’s daughter Sadie returns to Brownsville as a journalist, determined to unravel the mystery of what happened decades earlier on the night the buildings blazed.
Joining together the present and the past is the community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, who was also displaced by that fire and who has spent the intervening years fighting for the rights of Brownsville’s residents and organizing a Livonia Avenue community land trust.
A stunning debut from a new talent, Livonia Chow Mein contemplates how the American pursuit of freedom relies on a collective amnesia and challenges us to consider what it would take for us to truly live in harmony.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published April 21, 2026
About the author
Abigail Savitch-Lew
2 books52 followersAbigail Savitch-Lew is a writer of fiction and nonfiction and an American of Jewish and Chinese (Ashkenazi and Toisanese) descent. She has a BA in literary arts from Brown University and an MFA in fiction from Rutgers University-Newark. She is the author of the novel Livonia Chow Mein, and her short stories have been published in The Round, Post Road, The Best Teen Writing of 2010, and The Apprentice Writer. Previously, she was a staff reporter for City Limits, an Asian American Writers’ Workshop Margins Fellow, and an adjunct professor of creative writing at Rutgers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
April 29, 2026
A fantastic debut novel centered around a decades-old mystery and the culture clashes that engulfed it. Told through varying perspectives, particularly that of a biracial Chinese Jewish journalist determined to unravel the mystery and her family’s potential role in it.
I was as intrigued with the complex family dynamics and trauma as I was the mystery at the center. It has a slow burn quality and yet never feels slow or repetitive. And the audio complements the writing well.
Read if you like:
▪️multi-generational stories
▪️Chinese and/or Jewish culture
▪️character centric novels
▪️literary suspense
Thank you Simon Books for the gifted copy.
I was as intrigued with the complex family dynamics and trauma as I was the mystery at the center. It has a slow burn quality and yet never feels slow or repetitive. And the audio complements the writing well.
Read if you like:
▪️multi-generational stories
▪️Chinese and/or Jewish culture
▪️character centric novels
▪️literary suspense
Thank you Simon Books for the gifted copy.
May 8, 2026
Whose Home?
Abigail Savitch-Lew's debut novel, “Livonia Chow Mein,” is a fusion of detective fiction, cultural history, and family chronicle, set against the backdrop of Brownsville, Brooklyn.
The story centers on a 1978 fatal blaze and the resulting generational conflict: community activist Lina Rodriguez Armstrong suspects her Chinese American landlord, Richard Wong, of arson, while years later, his granddaughter and journalist Sadie Chin investigates the fire, often challenging Lina's account. This novel offers a critical overview of American capitalism, racism, gentrification, immigration, and community responsibility.
Savitch-Lew excels at grounding the story in the social events of the time, making Richard Wong’s poignant immigrant story from rural China a particular strength. While the novel is rich in detail, the sheer amount of information presented occasionally slows the narrative’s momentum.
“Livonia Chow Mein” is recommended for readers who enjoy multi-generational stories, literary suspense, and character-centric novels that deeply explore complex social issues. 3.5
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Abigail Savitch-Lew's debut novel, “Livonia Chow Mein,” is a fusion of detective fiction, cultural history, and family chronicle, set against the backdrop of Brownsville, Brooklyn.
The story centers on a 1978 fatal blaze and the resulting generational conflict: community activist Lina Rodriguez Armstrong suspects her Chinese American landlord, Richard Wong, of arson, while years later, his granddaughter and journalist Sadie Chin investigates the fire, often challenging Lina's account. This novel offers a critical overview of American capitalism, racism, gentrification, immigration, and community responsibility.
Savitch-Lew excels at grounding the story in the social events of the time, making Richard Wong’s poignant immigrant story from rural China a particular strength. While the novel is rich in detail, the sheer amount of information presented occasionally slows the narrative’s momentum.
“Livonia Chow Mein” is recommended for readers who enjoy multi-generational stories, literary suspense, and character-centric novels that deeply explore complex social issues. 3.5
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 23, 2025
SO much hope for this book.
A story taking place in Brownsville, with history incorporating the Chinese, Jewish, Black, and Hispanic community over decades.
unfortunately, there was SO much going on, it took away from the characters story, and focused instead on just the research Savitch-Lew discovered when writing this book. It became hard to focus on and I ended up skimming through the majority of it.
I wish she had just focused on the 1940s, centering on the Chinese coming to America to make a better life for themselves. It would have been one heck of a heartbreaker. Instead, my brain is completely confused at the dual timelines.
A story taking place in Brownsville, with history incorporating the Chinese, Jewish, Black, and Hispanic community over decades.
unfortunately, there was SO much going on, it took away from the characters story, and focused instead on just the research Savitch-Lew discovered when writing this book. It became hard to focus on and I ended up skimming through the majority of it.
I wish she had just focused on the 1940s, centering on the Chinese coming to America to make a better life for themselves. It would have been one heck of a heartbreaker. Instead, my brain is completely confused at the dual timelines.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book.
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own. I was invited to read this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I gave this book 3.5 stars. I liked the characters and reading about their lives. The neighborhood is even a character in this book, which I found interesting. The one criticism I have though is this book was told from multiple points of view, but every time we switched characters, it was very difficult to figure out the timeline we were in because it bounced around so much. I think it would be helpful if every time it changes point of view, that the year or decade be listed so it is easier to follow. This is a debut and I am leery of reading debuts because it's the authors first book and a lot of times you can tell they need to grow as a writer, but not all the time.
It starts in 1978 when two tenements in Brownsville, Brooklyn, are burned to the ground with people living there. The community is in a fight with the city because they want to have control over the lot with a community land trust, but the city wants to build some apartments there. The book goes back and forth in time telling the story of Brownsville's past. It is also a story of gentrification. This book would be less confusing if the timelines were clearer.
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own. I was invited to read this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I gave this book 3.5 stars. I liked the characters and reading about their lives. The neighborhood is even a character in this book, which I found interesting. The one criticism I have though is this book was told from multiple points of view, but every time we switched characters, it was very difficult to figure out the timeline we were in because it bounced around so much. I think it would be helpful if every time it changes point of view, that the year or decade be listed so it is easier to follow. This is a debut and I am leery of reading debuts because it's the authors first book and a lot of times you can tell they need to grow as a writer, but not all the time.
It starts in 1978 when two tenements in Brownsville, Brooklyn, are burned to the ground with people living there. The community is in a fight with the city because they want to have control over the lot with a community land trust, but the city wants to build some apartments there. The book goes back and forth in time telling the story of Brownsville's past. It is also a story of gentrification. This book would be less confusing if the timelines were clearer.
May 8, 2026
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing a free copy of this book for review.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Livonia Chow Mein is, at its heart, a story about family, about community, about choosing to see clearly and then using that knowledge to guide the actions of ourselves and others. Change works best when it is responsive, reflective, focused, and centered on those who will be most affected by those changes.
The very first thing that impressed me about this author was how she shined a light on what is essentially a lost language: Toisanese. We tend to think of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. speaking mainly Mandarin or Cantonese, but the dominant Chinese immigrant language in the first half of the 20th century was actually Toisanese. In this novel, the author does the painstaking work of preserving some of the words and phrases in this dying language, that is no longer taught but which would have been the main language spoken by these early Chinese Americans.
The writing style is easygoing, almost conversational, like if your smartest friend was telling you a story that required her giving you a little background, and lightly touching on historical context. For instance, I had no idea when the Manchu dynasty ended. It is referenced quickly and smoothly, without missing a beat. I really like that fluidity.
I did know about the Chinese Exclusion laws, but this too, was well-explained in a few sentences, and within narrative context. No under or over explaining nor the dreaded info-dumping that can sink a novel which covers a wider time span.
The narrator perspective here is very real, stripped of any stereotypical nonsense, or worse, that angelicalization of a POC gazing towards the audacity of hope. No, this author understands that to talk about all the big topics, like racism, classism, white knight syndrome, gentrification, identity, politics (and everything is political), and on and on, you're going to have to show people as they really are. No cartoonish villain nor idealized Mary Sue. Real people and real interactions are complex and layered, as are their motivations.
For a debut author, Savitch-Lew is very comfortable with storytelling. And I appreciate the nonlinear timeline construction, which creates more impact. This might be one of the few generational sagas I've read with such a strong social activism arc, but I hope it won't be the last.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Livonia Chow Mein is, at its heart, a story about family, about community, about choosing to see clearly and then using that knowledge to guide the actions of ourselves and others. Change works best when it is responsive, reflective, focused, and centered on those who will be most affected by those changes.
The very first thing that impressed me about this author was how she shined a light on what is essentially a lost language: Toisanese. We tend to think of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. speaking mainly Mandarin or Cantonese, but the dominant Chinese immigrant language in the first half of the 20th century was actually Toisanese. In this novel, the author does the painstaking work of preserving some of the words and phrases in this dying language, that is no longer taught but which would have been the main language spoken by these early Chinese Americans.
The writing style is easygoing, almost conversational, like if your smartest friend was telling you a story that required her giving you a little background, and lightly touching on historical context. For instance, I had no idea when the Manchu dynasty ended. It is referenced quickly and smoothly, without missing a beat. I really like that fluidity.
I did know about the Chinese Exclusion laws, but this too, was well-explained in a few sentences, and within narrative context. No under or over explaining nor the dreaded info-dumping that can sink a novel which covers a wider time span.
The narrator perspective here is very real, stripped of any stereotypical nonsense, or worse, that angelicalization of a POC gazing towards the audacity of hope. No, this author understands that to talk about all the big topics, like racism, classism, white knight syndrome, gentrification, identity, politics (and everything is political), and on and on, you're going to have to show people as they really are. No cartoonish villain nor idealized Mary Sue. Real people and real interactions are complex and layered, as are their motivations.
For a debut author, Savitch-Lew is very comfortable with storytelling. And I appreciate the nonlinear timeline construction, which creates more impact. This might be one of the few generational sagas I've read with such a strong social activism arc, but I hope it won't be the last.
Read
April 7, 2026I’m struggling to give this a set rating because I think it’s a really important book with a rich history of Brownsville and Chinese culture that needs to be read. I also loved reading about someone from mixed identities as I’m a mixed person with little to no stories that reflect my experience. I also appreciated the care and time Savitch-Lew put into this project. I truly learned from this book and for that I’m grateful to have read it.
That being said, I felt I would’ve appreciated staying closer to only one POV or timeline or maybe just two as I often felt a distance from the characters as the emotionality got bogged down by info-dumping. There was often too much going on. I also struggle to read first-person narratives from someone who is outside the writer’s identity. While Lina was lovable, there were elements of her speaking/Spanish that were a little off and stereotypical. As a Latina, I found myself cringing at many aspects.
And then there’s Sadie, she’s entitled and pushy. She forces the reader to have patience, but I felt there was so much more I wanted from her to understand her behavior.
Buuut if you love dual timelines, BIPOC stories, and NY, you’ll probably get something wonderful out of this.
That being said, I felt I would’ve appreciated staying closer to only one POV or timeline or maybe just two as I often felt a distance from the characters as the emotionality got bogged down by info-dumping. There was often too much going on. I also struggle to read first-person narratives from someone who is outside the writer’s identity. While Lina was lovable, there were elements of her speaking/Spanish that were a little off and stereotypical. As a Latina, I found myself cringing at many aspects.
And then there’s Sadie, she’s entitled and pushy. She forces the reader to have patience, but I felt there was so much more I wanted from her to understand her behavior.
Buuut if you love dual timelines, BIPOC stories, and NY, you’ll probably get something wonderful out of this.
March 31, 2026
This story weaves the past and present almost seamlessly. I loved the way Savitch-Lew kept you engaged in the story with not very long chapters and sometimes combining characters in a chapter.
You can feel the love for Brownsville through the pages and the desire to get the community's story and the fight for better conditions out in the world. This is a work of fiction, but the history and struggles are real. (The inclusion of resources by the author at the end was excellent).
Initially what drew me in to this book was the title, but I stayed because the characters started to grow on me. Sadie and Lina, you will always have a special place in my heart.
This is a must-read if you are interested in family and community stories.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and the author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.
You can feel the love for Brownsville through the pages and the desire to get the community's story and the fight for better conditions out in the world. This is a work of fiction, but the history and struggles are real. (The inclusion of resources by the author at the end was excellent).
Initially what drew me in to this book was the title, but I stayed because the characters started to grow on me. Sadie and Lina, you will always have a special place in my heart.
This is a must-read if you are interested in family and community stories.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and the author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.
April 29, 2026
I really wanted to like this. Look, everyone who reads my reviews knows how I feel about dual timelines, they should die and rot like dogs in hell, but I admit they CAN work. I feel like it almost worked here, but in the end it just muddied the waters a bit too much and both timelines suffer for it. It's still a good story, if you're the type who isn't bothered by jumping back and forth, but I just couldn't get past it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Centering a gritty historical mystery of arson and more realistic themes for book club discussions, this complex community-empowering generational saga reflects heartbreak as well as joy and powerful advocacy to stand up to racism, immigrants’ rights, and gentrification. This debut novel is a lyrical ode to four generations of the diverse families rooted in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City.
Thank you to Abigail Savitch-Lew, Simon & Schuster, and Netgalley; this five-star read will be among my highest recommended publishing in 2026!
Abigail Savitch-Lew is a third generation Brooklynite of Jewish (Ashkenazi) and Chinese (Toisanese) descent. She features the Toisanese language with a thorough glossary!
Themes:
debut, arson, historical, place-based, mystery, generational saga, dual-timelines, complex, gentrification, housing projects, community, neighborhood, New York City, Brownsville neighborhood, Brooklyn, food, culture, Toisanese language, racism, Chinese immigrants, Black, Jewish, social justice, advocacy, reparations
Thank you to Abigail Savitch-Lew, Simon & Schuster, and Netgalley; this five-star read will be among my highest recommended publishing in 2026!
Abigail Savitch-Lew is a third generation Brooklynite of Jewish (Ashkenazi) and Chinese (Toisanese) descent. She features the Toisanese language with a thorough glossary!
Themes:
debut, arson, historical, place-based, mystery, generational saga, dual-timelines, complex, gentrification, housing projects, community, neighborhood, New York City, Brownsville neighborhood, Brooklyn, food, culture, Toisanese language, racism, Chinese immigrants, Black, Jewish, social justice, advocacy, reparations
Read
November 29, 2025DNF. This story skips around a lot in POV and time period with no markers, making it hard for me to follow. It's also just not grabbing me.
May 7, 2026
I wanted to read this book for the longest time because of the setting. As a native of Brooklyn, New York, where one grandmother, my bubbe, lived in Brownsville, and the other, my beloved Grandmama, lived just on its border, many of my childhood days in the 1950's and '60's were spent walking along the very streets mentioned in Livonia Chow Mein. My grandfather bought my siblings and me all our holiday clothes in Young Folks on Pitkin Avenue, and we had the best pizza we ever ate to date, and luscious charlotte russes on Rutland Road. Furthermore, my father's best friend's family owned the Kosher Deli and my sibs and I spent many a Saturday having franks and knishes there after watching movies at the Lowe's Pitkin. So, reading about the familiar history and ultimate gentrification of Brownsville from those early days, was like revisiting my youth and young adulthood. I got to understand it from the inside out. The nostalgia, alone, was enough to make this an enjoyable read.
Beyond the nuts and bolts of all the historical references, though, the story line was very entertaining, the writing clear, and the characters all believable. I breezed through this novel in one day, caring for the people and the characters as I would old friends. That says a lot. And even if you don't hale from the rich diversity and cultural breadth of Brooklyn, New York, you are sure to enjoy Livonia Chow Mein. For me, it was a wonderful journey down memory lane.
Beyond the nuts and bolts of all the historical references, though, the story line was very entertaining, the writing clear, and the characters all believable. I breezed through this novel in one day, caring for the people and the characters as I would old friends. That says a lot. And even if you don't hale from the rich diversity and cultural breadth of Brooklyn, New York, you are sure to enjoy Livonia Chow Mein. For me, it was a wonderful journey down memory lane.
May 7, 2026
I was actually pretty surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! It was a little hard at first to follow. It took me probably 40% of the book to really be able to know who was who. It’s multigenerational but all interconnected and I love those kind of stories! The underlying sub stories about race and discrimination and struggle and hardship across generations, especially of Chinese immigrants and Jews was very interesting and to hear some of the sub context really makes you think and makes you want to ensure that that never happens again.
March 29, 2026
Such an awesome historical read. This story tells the tale of Brownsville. This book takes you back and forth through time to see how much truly changes, and doesn’t over the years. It will truly leave you on the edge of your seat. I highly recommend reading this amazing book.
April 5, 2026
This was a slow-paced, contemplative look at the evolution of Brownsville, New York, as it struggles with outsiders developing projects instead of listening to community needs, almost the opposite of gentrification. It's inspired by the author's own family history and her extensive research into the story of this changing community.
It's told in competing timelines and points of view, which could start to get jumbled up in my head even as I tried to give it the close reading it deserved, mostly because it kept jumping back and forth in time and I struggled keeping track of all the characters. A list of all the characters and their time periods at the beginning would have resolved this concern I think, though.
Sadie Chin is a 24-year-old fresh-faced, half-Chinese, half-Jewish reporter assigned to cover the Brownsville beat. She lives in gentrified Park Slope, so she's eager to cover Real America. But her family has roots in the town that complicate matters. Her grandfather used to own a Chinese restaurant in the area, then a checkered tenement building that burned down in a suspicious fire.
We get a lot of different ideas thrown at us, almost too many. In some ways I wish the book had focused more on Sadie because I found her interesting. It covered each of her family members and their character development, starting from the immigrant struggles of her grandfather who was indentured to the Chinese restaurant.
It was inspiring to see the community activism and the resilience of people who hold their community together despite it descending into drugs and poverty, but I did feel this focused on politics more than the people involved despite all the personality profiles. There was a bit of distance I felt to the characters because there were so many of them, so that it almost read like a journalist's first novel, though I do not know the author's background.
I pulled it from 3 to 4 stars though because despite its flaws I thought this was a fascinating look at a complicated immigrant family making their way in a new world, with the backdrop of changing neighborhoods. It tried to do too much, but I still enjoyed how it all came together and would read more by this author.
I'm also an epic fantasy reader so the multiple POVs didn't bother me like I could see them confusing some readers. If you don't mind a slow pace and like historical and literary fiction though, you might like this one too. I just wish it had been more character-driven. The main character was almost the community itself, an interesting take. It had a very strong sense of place.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
It's told in competing timelines and points of view, which could start to get jumbled up in my head even as I tried to give it the close reading it deserved, mostly because it kept jumping back and forth in time and I struggled keeping track of all the characters. A list of all the characters and their time periods at the beginning would have resolved this concern I think, though.
Sadie Chin is a 24-year-old fresh-faced, half-Chinese, half-Jewish reporter assigned to cover the Brownsville beat. She lives in gentrified Park Slope, so she's eager to cover Real America. But her family has roots in the town that complicate matters. Her grandfather used to own a Chinese restaurant in the area, then a checkered tenement building that burned down in a suspicious fire.
We get a lot of different ideas thrown at us, almost too many. In some ways I wish the book had focused more on Sadie because I found her interesting. It covered each of her family members and their character development, starting from the immigrant struggles of her grandfather who was indentured to the Chinese restaurant.
It was inspiring to see the community activism and the resilience of people who hold their community together despite it descending into drugs and poverty, but I did feel this focused on politics more than the people involved despite all the personality profiles. There was a bit of distance I felt to the characters because there were so many of them, so that it almost read like a journalist's first novel, though I do not know the author's background.
I pulled it from 3 to 4 stars though because despite its flaws I thought this was a fascinating look at a complicated immigrant family making their way in a new world, with the backdrop of changing neighborhoods. It tried to do too much, but I still enjoyed how it all came together and would read more by this author.
I'm also an epic fantasy reader so the multiple POVs didn't bother me like I could see them confusing some readers. If you don't mind a slow pace and like historical and literary fiction though, you might like this one too. I just wish it had been more character-driven. The main character was almost the community itself, an interesting take. It had a very strong sense of place.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 29, 2026
I received this book as part of a giveaway.
I truly wanted to like this book more than I did. The reader can clearly tell that this author did her research, which is both a blessing and a curse for this book. While it helps set the stage for the exploration of themes like gentrification and racism, the details really slow down the narrative and detract from its impact. It read, at times, more like a book report than a “gripping epic.” Also, the author lays it on heavy with the finger wagging and “racism is bad” commentary. It would’ve been a lot more powerful if this lesson hadn’t been so specifically stated. Finally, the timeline was jumpy, which would’ve been fine had the author provided dates or any indication of the switch.
I truly wanted to like this book more than I did. The reader can clearly tell that this author did her research, which is both a blessing and a curse for this book. While it helps set the stage for the exploration of themes like gentrification and racism, the details really slow down the narrative and detract from its impact. It read, at times, more like a book report than a “gripping epic.” Also, the author lays it on heavy with the finger wagging and “racism is bad” commentary. It would’ve been a lot more powerful if this lesson hadn’t been so specifically stated. Finally, the timeline was jumpy, which would’ve been fine had the author provided dates or any indication of the switch.
May 6, 2026
I enjoyed this book!
April 30, 2026
I looked forward to picking up my kindle everyday to continue reading this book. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and I honestly never wanted it to end! Congratulations to the author for such an incredible debut. I cannot wait to see what they do next!
The way the different generational stories were so beautifully entertained truly made this book shine. Every single storyline kept me engaged and wanting to find out more. The characters and their journeys’ were developed so well. I felt deeply connected and invested in each and every one.
The themes of this book are very timely, while at the same time showing us that our society continues to repeat devastating patterns. But it also inspires so much hope.
I loved everything about this book and am so sad it’s over! I can already predict this will definitely be one that I re-read every few years.
I would 100% recommend this book to anyone and everyone! Please read it. You will not be disappointed.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.
The way the different generational stories were so beautifully entertained truly made this book shine. Every single storyline kept me engaged and wanting to find out more. The characters and their journeys’ were developed so well. I felt deeply connected and invested in each and every one.
The themes of this book are very timely, while at the same time showing us that our society continues to repeat devastating patterns. But it also inspires so much hope.
I loved everything about this book and am so sad it’s over! I can already predict this will definitely be one that I re-read every few years.
I would 100% recommend this book to anyone and everyone! Please read it. You will not be disappointed.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.
April 11, 2026
Received advanced copy from publisher
The book was very engaging and entertaining at the same time. The writer put so much research into the characters and the place. The story is center on the neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn around a fire that that displaced many. Years later a young reporter want to write a story on a new development that is occurring on the land where the fire took place years years prior.
Every character is engaging but some stand out for others. Lina was the most engaging. You just wanted to help her. Wanted to see her win. Then there is Sadie the reporter she was challenging character but it forces you to under someone that has a different reality than you do. Richard has the immigrant story where the theme of place constantly came up while reading his character. The biggest character is Brownsville, Brooklyn. It was big character energy and every word that described the location was relatable. Brownsville was the connector to all in some way
I would give it 10 stars if I could.
The book was very engaging and entertaining at the same time. The writer put so much research into the characters and the place. The story is center on the neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn around a fire that that displaced many. Years later a young reporter want to write a story on a new development that is occurring on the land where the fire took place years years prior.
Every character is engaging but some stand out for others. Lina was the most engaging. You just wanted to help her. Wanted to see her win. Then there is Sadie the reporter she was challenging character but it forces you to under someone that has a different reality than you do. Richard has the immigrant story where the theme of place constantly came up while reading his character. The biggest character is Brownsville, Brooklyn. It was big character energy and every word that described the location was relatable. Brownsville was the connector to all in some way
I would give it 10 stars if I could.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2026
I sat back after finishing this novel and wondered if I had actually visited the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. The setting, the characters, the history are so incredibly immersive. Following one family descending from Chinese immigrants, this novel explores what it means to be a multicultural community over a span of about a hundred years. I loved this book. It’s one of my favorite new books to the year. I was fortunate to receive a copy from the publisher, but this is my honest review.
April 8, 2026
An excellent read that has stayed with me since finishing it. Rich characters, phenomenal multi generational storytelling, and a deep love for Brownsville and community. Incredible debut from Abigail Savitch-Lew!
Read
December 22, 2025"Livonia Chow Mein" offers a lot of interesting ingredients that unfortunately do not add up to a great meal. Author Abigail Savitch-Lew stitches together the story of four generations of Brooklyn residents. Across two timelines, immigrants from China and their Black, Hispanic and Jewish neighbors struggle to find a foothold in New York City. The changes in perspective combined with the disjointed timeline made it difficult to feel invested in any one character. And while some sections were quite strong, with good pacing and realistic dialogue, others fell flat or drifted into term paper territory with one-dimensional characters that lacked subtlety. It's obvious that the writer did her homework about land trusts, gentrification and racial relations from the 1950s to the present, but I was hoping for more narrative and less lecturing.
Note: I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Note: I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
March 1, 2026
This book has great potential, and I enjoyed it for the most part. I did find myself getting bogged down at times, especially in the descriptions of the Brownsville community organizers and their efforts. Those sections made me feel as if I was shifting from a fictional account to a history lesson, and the story dragged.
The story jumps around quite a bit in time, and it can be difficult to figure out in what year the action is taking place. The book would greatly benefit from year identifiers at the beginning of each chapter.
One glaring error that affects a major plot point in the story: The author has a character do a reverse phone number lookup in a White Pages phone book in the 1970s. That would have been impossible.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story jumps around quite a bit in time, and it can be difficult to figure out in what year the action is taking place. The book would greatly benefit from year identifiers at the beginning of each chapter.
One glaring error that affects a major plot point in the story: The author has a character do a reverse phone number lookup in a White Pages phone book in the 1970s. That would have been impossible.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Livonia Chow Mein opens with an unnamed figure beckoning young boys in Brooklyn to pour gasoline. Someone is going to set a building on fire, someone will die, and a neighborhood already contending with systemic abandonment will carry that wound for decades. I was hooked from the first page and did not stop until the last.
This is a novel that earns its momentum. The opening sections can feel weighted with historical scaffolding, but by a quarter of the way through, the text begins to sing. And when it does it blossoms into a full choir, many-voiced and beautifully layered like the neighborhood it chronicles. Abigail Savitch-Lew has done extraordinary research into Brownsville, Brooklyn, enveloping history that never reads like a lecture once the characters fully come alive, which they do, in three vivid and complicated dimensions.
I came to this book with some personal geography. I was once a reporter living in Brooklyn many, many moons ago, and a few of my early stories took me to Brownsville: a man-on-the-street when Mike Tyson was set to be released from prison, a piece on community policing, and untold numbers of crime stories. Reading Savitch-Lew's rendering of that neighborhood was an act of recognition and grief in equal measure for me. The residents are still fighting the same fights, decades later.
What I did not expect was the linguistic gift. The Toisanese glossary that opens the book is wonderful! Terms like bak gui (white ghost), hak gui (black ghost), and jook seing, referring to an American-born person of Chinese ancestry, carry the full weight of diaspora identity. I study Yoruba, and the people have a pidgin term ajebutter (literally "one who eats butter,") used for a Nigerian abroad who has lost connection to home customs. The term maps almost perfectly onto jook seing. That kind of linguistic subtext, the inside language of people who have had to translate themselves into a country that often doesn’t see them, is rarely visible in American fiction. Savitch-Lew honors it.
The novel does not flinch from the ugliness of interethnic friction. There are raw, honest expressions of anti-Blackness from Chinese, Jewish, and other characters throughout. They are uncomfortable to read, and deliberately so. When a wife finds out her Chinese ne’er-do-well husband has been fired from his job while black employees were kept on, she snaps, "They keep the hak gui, but not you." Now what now? As a Black woman I have heard many an insult, but nothing quite like that, the implication being that even the people considered the lowest of the low outperformed you. That is some brutal writing.
The lines Savitch-Lew gives us many contradictions, convictions, and hypocrisies to reckon with. Koon Lai, the novel's founding patriarch, criticizes protesters by saying "These are bak gui, and even they think yelling makes food appear." Then on the very next page petitions his dead ancestors for money. Sadie, the mixed-race journalist who anchors the present-day narrative, is confronted with her own whiteness and her involvement as a journalist in getting to the bottom of the mystery: "And yes, you are also white, in case you forgot. And you're not the first white person to try to fool themselves into a state of innocence."
And Lina, the community organizer who threads past and present together, offers perhaps the novel's defining meditation:
That felt like the whole novel, and the whole nation, in a paragraph.
A note on the novel's resolution: the question of who bears responsibility for the fire at the heart of the story is answered in a way that some readers may find surprising. I will say only this: the answer is not a single person, and the novel is better for that complexity. Savitch-Lew does not let anyone off the hook, including you, Dear Reader.
Four stars. A debut that arrives fully formed with something urgent to say.
This is a novel that earns its momentum. The opening sections can feel weighted with historical scaffolding, but by a quarter of the way through, the text begins to sing. And when it does it blossoms into a full choir, many-voiced and beautifully layered like the neighborhood it chronicles. Abigail Savitch-Lew has done extraordinary research into Brownsville, Brooklyn, enveloping history that never reads like a lecture once the characters fully come alive, which they do, in three vivid and complicated dimensions.
I came to this book with some personal geography. I was once a reporter living in Brooklyn many, many moons ago, and a few of my early stories took me to Brownsville: a man-on-the-street when Mike Tyson was set to be released from prison, a piece on community policing, and untold numbers of crime stories. Reading Savitch-Lew's rendering of that neighborhood was an act of recognition and grief in equal measure for me. The residents are still fighting the same fights, decades later.
What I did not expect was the linguistic gift. The Toisanese glossary that opens the book is wonderful! Terms like bak gui (white ghost), hak gui (black ghost), and jook seing, referring to an American-born person of Chinese ancestry, carry the full weight of diaspora identity. I study Yoruba, and the people have a pidgin term ajebutter (literally "one who eats butter,") used for a Nigerian abroad who has lost connection to home customs. The term maps almost perfectly onto jook seing. That kind of linguistic subtext, the inside language of people who have had to translate themselves into a country that often doesn’t see them, is rarely visible in American fiction. Savitch-Lew honors it.
The novel does not flinch from the ugliness of interethnic friction. There are raw, honest expressions of anti-Blackness from Chinese, Jewish, and other characters throughout. They are uncomfortable to read, and deliberately so. When a wife finds out her Chinese ne’er-do-well husband has been fired from his job while black employees were kept on, she snaps, "They keep the hak gui, but not you." Now what now? As a Black woman I have heard many an insult, but nothing quite like that, the implication being that even the people considered the lowest of the low outperformed you. That is some brutal writing.
The lines Savitch-Lew gives us many contradictions, convictions, and hypocrisies to reckon with. Koon Lai, the novel's founding patriarch, criticizes protesters by saying "These are bak gui, and even they think yelling makes food appear." Then on the very next page petitions his dead ancestors for money. Sadie, the mixed-race journalist who anchors the present-day narrative, is confronted with her own whiteness and her involvement as a journalist in getting to the bottom of the mystery: "And yes, you are also white, in case you forgot. And you're not the first white person to try to fool themselves into a state of innocence."
And Lina, the community organizer who threads past and present together, offers perhaps the novel's defining meditation:
"There were two types of people in America, the people who forget and the people who remembered. The forgetting ones didn't dare recall the things they'd done to others' bodies. They amputated the memory, and their bodies appeared healthy and fit, at least to others. They couldn't tell their children, so their children, too, inherited the amnesia. These children were the ones who faced forward, who climbed the fastest, who thought they could escape history. Born from denial, they graduated into the heights of power. The children of the remembering remained weighted. They bore the memory of centuries."
That felt like the whole novel, and the whole nation, in a paragraph.
A note on the novel's resolution: the question of who bears responsibility for the fire at the heart of the story is answered in a way that some readers may find surprising. I will say only this: the answer is not a single person, and the novel is better for that complexity. Savitch-Lew does not let anyone off the hook, including you, Dear Reader.
Four stars. A debut that arrives fully formed with something urgent to say.
April 22, 2026
Real Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: In the vein of Happiness Falls and Family Lore, a gripping story of family history and political upheaval centered around a Chinese family-owned restaurant in Brownsville, Brooklyn and its impact on the neighborhood’s Jewish and Black residents over the course of a century.
In 1978, two tenements on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville burn to the ground, killing one resident and displacing dozens of others. It remains unclear who set the buildings ablaze, but the survivors are convinced the culprit is Mr. Wong.
Who exactly is Mr. Wong, and what allegedly drove him to this extraordinary act of violence, is the question that consumes this novel as it plunges into four generations of Wong family history. First is Koon Lai, an immigrant who runs a Chinese restaurant on Livonia Avenue; second, his son Richard, a man desperate for his own chance at the American Dream; and third, Jason, a poet who seeks his escape in the bohemian counterculture of the 1970s, but finds himself an unwitting participant in Brooklyn’s gentrification. In the 21st century, Jason’s daughter Sadie returns to Brownsville as a journalist, determined to unravel the mystery of what happened decades earlier on the night the buildings blazed.
Joining together the present and the past is the community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, who was also displaced by that fire and who has spent the intervening years fighting for the rights of Brownsville’s residents and organizing a Livonia Avenue community land trust.
A stunning debut from a new talent, Livonia Chow Mein contemplates how the American pursuit of freedom relies on a collective amnesia and challenges us to consider what it would take for us to truly live in harmony.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: As debut novels go, Author Savitch-Lew picked a doozy of a topic...the arson plague that hit New York's working-class and immigrant housing, the war on the communities that were criminally negligent of their duty to provide landlords with their just and fair profits, and had the audacity not to be white or, often enough, to speak English. The communities that were forming and re-forming and growing also were guilty of demanding the landlords obey the laws of New York City! Can you imagine such arrogance? It costs actual money, money that could be profit!, to obey all those idiot safety and health rules!
It's a shameful, revolting tale of greed and racism.
It's also an immigrant descendant's reckoning with US racism and capitalism at their most nakedly unabashed. Ambitiously attempting to use dual timelines to tell different stories in different eras and (fatally for my reading pleasure) suspense-destroying levels of intertwinedness, the result is two good stories about a family dreaming the "American Dream" as evidence of its fictionality mounts in their faces. Had these been presented in sequence, the 1940s then the 1970s, much more could have been wrung from each era's challenges. As it was, the effort to keep the reader in suspense felt misplaced...obviously this situation worked out we've already seen that person in the 1970s!...so I was left sitting there with my teeth in my mouth wondering "why am I here again?"
Because both these stories are trenchant and apt for today's developing social landscape, that's why. I'm not the biggest fan of the execution but I am deeply interested in the Toisanese diaspora now. I liked what I learned if not deriving pleasure from how I learned it.
Social-issues readers (like me) encouraged to get a sample to see if your mileage will vary.
The Publisher Says: In the vein of Happiness Falls and Family Lore, a gripping story of family history and political upheaval centered around a Chinese family-owned restaurant in Brownsville, Brooklyn and its impact on the neighborhood’s Jewish and Black residents over the course of a century.
In 1978, two tenements on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville burn to the ground, killing one resident and displacing dozens of others. It remains unclear who set the buildings ablaze, but the survivors are convinced the culprit is Mr. Wong.
Who exactly is Mr. Wong, and what allegedly drove him to this extraordinary act of violence, is the question that consumes this novel as it plunges into four generations of Wong family history. First is Koon Lai, an immigrant who runs a Chinese restaurant on Livonia Avenue; second, his son Richard, a man desperate for his own chance at the American Dream; and third, Jason, a poet who seeks his escape in the bohemian counterculture of the 1970s, but finds himself an unwitting participant in Brooklyn’s gentrification. In the 21st century, Jason’s daughter Sadie returns to Brownsville as a journalist, determined to unravel the mystery of what happened decades earlier on the night the buildings blazed.
Joining together the present and the past is the community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, who was also displaced by that fire and who has spent the intervening years fighting for the rights of Brownsville’s residents and organizing a Livonia Avenue community land trust.
A stunning debut from a new talent, Livonia Chow Mein contemplates how the American pursuit of freedom relies on a collective amnesia and challenges us to consider what it would take for us to truly live in harmony.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: As debut novels go, Author Savitch-Lew picked a doozy of a topic...the arson plague that hit New York's working-class and immigrant housing, the war on the communities that were criminally negligent of their duty to provide landlords with their just and fair profits, and had the audacity not to be white or, often enough, to speak English. The communities that were forming and re-forming and growing also were guilty of demanding the landlords obey the laws of New York City! Can you imagine such arrogance? It costs actual money, money that could be profit!, to obey all those idiot safety and health rules!
It's a shameful, revolting tale of greed and racism.
It's also an immigrant descendant's reckoning with US racism and capitalism at their most nakedly unabashed. Ambitiously attempting to use dual timelines to tell different stories in different eras and (fatally for my reading pleasure) suspense-destroying levels of intertwinedness, the result is two good stories about a family dreaming the "American Dream" as evidence of its fictionality mounts in their faces. Had these been presented in sequence, the 1940s then the 1970s, much more could have been wrung from each era's challenges. As it was, the effort to keep the reader in suspense felt misplaced...obviously this situation worked out we've already seen that person in the 1970s!...so I was left sitting there with my teeth in my mouth wondering "why am I here again?"
Because both these stories are trenchant and apt for today's developing social landscape, that's why. I'm not the biggest fan of the execution but I am deeply interested in the Toisanese diaspora now. I liked what I learned if not deriving pleasure from how I learned it.
Social-issues readers (like me) encouraged to get a sample to see if your mileage will vary.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Livonia Chow Mein is a very compelling debut book about gentrification, immigrant experiences, urban melting pots, and community activism and organization in the United States. Black, Chinese, Hispanic, and Jewish identities are components of the story, but there is a much stronger focus on the first three, although there are consistent mentions of Jewish people, culture, and experiences.
There is a lot going on in this book, and it mostly all works out as a very interesting study of American immigration and integration, following four generations of Chinese-Americans and one half-Black/half-Hispanic woman in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York City. The slice-of-life aspects of Lina in particular were fascinating to read, and I really enjoyed her perspective vigorously organizing and fighting for her community. I did not personally grow up in an intensely gentrified and underserved area of the community, and the characters' experiences watching their city change and leave them behind was very moving. The character Lina had many lovely moments of reflection and thought on race and identity in the United States that were a tad heavy-handed but were poignant all the same.
There is a lot of both POV and timeline shifting in this book. In the first third of the story, I found it difficult to orient myself with each POV switch to understand which time period the character was in. Four generations across about a century are covered, and for two characters, we jump around in their perspective across nearly that whole hundred years. Once I was further along in the story, I was able to glean the time period at the start of the chapter by other context clues, but I think it would be helpful if the author had added time period of the beginning of the chapters. It might have been an intentional choice of the author NOT to sign post the timeline, but I think the clarity is more worthwhile than the mystery element.
The author clearly heavily researched and appreciated the time periods, experiences, and histories of immigrants and residents in both China and Brooklyn in the twentieth century. At times, the author might have gotten a little too excited to share the history and details from their research, straying from the momentum of the plot, but I had a grand time taking the scenic route here. I flew through this book, determined to have just another chapter after every POV switch. The multi-lingual and cultural phrases in this book add a fascinating later, and the glossary was very useful. I appreciated that Savitch-Lew stuck the landing with the ending and did not overly neatly wrap up the story with an easy happily ever after.
There are some heavy topics in this book, including suicide, drug use, loss of a parent, loss of a child, arson, murder, antisemitism, racism, homophobia, war violence, domestic violence, and sexual violence. There are also period-typical racial, ethnic, and religious slurs. Livonia Chow Mein is a very impressive debut, and I look forward to future books from Savitch-Lew. If you're interested in an urban multi-generational and multi-cultural saga, I think you will find this very interesting.
Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for the arc!
There is a lot going on in this book, and it mostly all works out as a very interesting study of American immigration and integration, following four generations of Chinese-Americans and one half-Black/half-Hispanic woman in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York City. The slice-of-life aspects of Lina in particular were fascinating to read, and I really enjoyed her perspective vigorously organizing and fighting for her community. I did not personally grow up in an intensely gentrified and underserved area of the community, and the characters' experiences watching their city change and leave them behind was very moving. The character Lina had many lovely moments of reflection and thought on race and identity in the United States that were a tad heavy-handed but were poignant all the same.
There is a lot of both POV and timeline shifting in this book. In the first third of the story, I found it difficult to orient myself with each POV switch to understand which time period the character was in. Four generations across about a century are covered, and for two characters, we jump around in their perspective across nearly that whole hundred years. Once I was further along in the story, I was able to glean the time period at the start of the chapter by other context clues, but I think it would be helpful if the author had added time period of the beginning of the chapters. It might have been an intentional choice of the author NOT to sign post the timeline, but I think the clarity is more worthwhile than the mystery element.
The author clearly heavily researched and appreciated the time periods, experiences, and histories of immigrants and residents in both China and Brooklyn in the twentieth century. At times, the author might have gotten a little too excited to share the history and details from their research, straying from the momentum of the plot, but I had a grand time taking the scenic route here. I flew through this book, determined to have just another chapter after every POV switch. The multi-lingual and cultural phrases in this book add a fascinating later, and the glossary was very useful. I appreciated that Savitch-Lew stuck the landing with the ending and did not overly neatly wrap up the story with an easy happily ever after.
There are some heavy topics in this book, including suicide, drug use, loss of a parent, loss of a child, arson, murder, antisemitism, racism, homophobia, war violence, domestic violence, and sexual violence. There are also period-typical racial, ethnic, and religious slurs. Livonia Chow Mein is a very impressive debut, and I look forward to future books from Savitch-Lew. If you're interested in an urban multi-generational and multi-cultural saga, I think you will find this very interesting.
Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for the arc!
April 10, 2026
Even as a lucky recipient and reader of a S&S Advance Reader copy of Levonia Chow Mein, I ordered this book from my local bookstore to purchase. It’s that good.
With Levonia Chow Mein, the author—Abigail Savitch-Lew—centers a very authentic American immigration and integration story on four generations of the Wong family, who originally settle and then live on in Brooklyn. She uses alternating points of view as well as historical times and settings; sliding between the 1940’s, 70’s, and 21st century. I liked the approach and, unlike a few reviewers here, actually appreciated the switch-ups that provided me with shots of fresh air, detailed context, and energy as the story progressed. Without them, I think the author would have had to rely on too much back story in order to get both the historical richness and the contemporary truth of the complicated story across.
While Levonia Chow Mein’s compelling and mystery-laden plot lines keep the reader on the page, the characters and their arcs are what nested the book in my emotional memory. Savitch-Lew parallels and interweaves the lives, cultures, and languages of Chinese, Black, Jewish, and mixed characters as they struggle to lift up their families and their community. As a white woman who has never lived in Brooklyn, I found something to relate to in almost every character as (most) of them bare the parts of their souls that (most) of us are given to work with: love, anger, stress, sense of responsibility, frustration, feelings of injustice, feelings of just wanting to move forward.
Koon Lai, from the first of the “Wong” generations, especially struck me as he is such a gentle yet powerful force that I thought of him even when he wasn’t written into the scene. His gesture of giving a typewriter to his poet-wannabe grandson, Jason, is written sparsely, but packs a wallop of meaning and emotion. His final gesture in the book (no spoiler here!) pulled me back to his homeland as I was given the gift of wondering just how much of himself he left there as a young man. Again, another point of relatability to any of us who have left our place of birth and upbringing and find ourselves floating in someone else’s native universe.
Levonia Chow Mein is a literary read, is a Book Club read, and is a read to pass along to friends and family interested in not just Brownsville, Brooklyn, but any pocket of the U.S. that had and/or has immigration and integration stories of its own. Last I checked, save for American Indian territory, that is the entirety of the US.
With Levonia Chow Mein, the author—Abigail Savitch-Lew—centers a very authentic American immigration and integration story on four generations of the Wong family, who originally settle and then live on in Brooklyn. She uses alternating points of view as well as historical times and settings; sliding between the 1940’s, 70’s, and 21st century. I liked the approach and, unlike a few reviewers here, actually appreciated the switch-ups that provided me with shots of fresh air, detailed context, and energy as the story progressed. Without them, I think the author would have had to rely on too much back story in order to get both the historical richness and the contemporary truth of the complicated story across.
While Levonia Chow Mein’s compelling and mystery-laden plot lines keep the reader on the page, the characters and their arcs are what nested the book in my emotional memory. Savitch-Lew parallels and interweaves the lives, cultures, and languages of Chinese, Black, Jewish, and mixed characters as they struggle to lift up their families and their community. As a white woman who has never lived in Brooklyn, I found something to relate to in almost every character as (most) of them bare the parts of their souls that (most) of us are given to work with: love, anger, stress, sense of responsibility, frustration, feelings of injustice, feelings of just wanting to move forward.
Koon Lai, from the first of the “Wong” generations, especially struck me as he is such a gentle yet powerful force that I thought of him even when he wasn’t written into the scene. His gesture of giving a typewriter to his poet-wannabe grandson, Jason, is written sparsely, but packs a wallop of meaning and emotion. His final gesture in the book (no spoiler here!) pulled me back to his homeland as I was given the gift of wondering just how much of himself he left there as a young man. Again, another point of relatability to any of us who have left our place of birth and upbringing and find ourselves floating in someone else’s native universe.
Levonia Chow Mein is a literary read, is a Book Club read, and is a read to pass along to friends and family interested in not just Brownsville, Brooklyn, but any pocket of the U.S. that had and/or has immigration and integration stories of its own. Last I checked, save for American Indian territory, that is the entirety of the US.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I had the opportunity to read Livonia Chow Mein with the Advanced Readers Club through Simon & Schuster, and what stood out just as much as the novel itself was the presence of Abigail Savitch-Lee on Zoom gracious, open, and genuinely engaged with readers. That level of care feels embedded in the book.
This is an ambitious debut that blends family saga, cultural history, and a layered mystery rooted in Brownsville, Brooklyn. At its best, the novel is immersive and deeply textured. The research alone is impressive Savitch-Lee brings 1970s Brooklyn to life with a sense of place that feels lived-in rather than constructed. You can feel the streets, the tension, the cultural intersections. What I appreciated most is that the novel resists leaning into easy stereotypes. Instead, it presents racial and class divisions with nuance, showing how those tensions operate both structurally and interpersonally.
Like many other readers have noted, the book’s strength lies in its scope. It’s not just telling one story it’s tracing generations, memory, and the aftershocks of a neighborhood shaped by fire, migration, and systemic inequality. That breadth gives the novel emotional weight and intellectual depth, aligning with broader praise that highlights its blend of “family saga” and “cultural history” with a strong sense of urban life. 
That said, the same ambition occasionally works against it.
The shifting timeline while clearly intentional can feel distracting. Rather than deepening the emotional connection to the characters, it sometimes interrupts it. There were moments where I wanted to stay longer with a character, to sit in their decisions and consequences, but the narrative moved on before that connection fully settled. This seems to echo a broader reader sentiment: the structure adds complexity, but not always clarity.
Even with that critique, the writing itself carries the novel. There’s a quiet confidence in how Savitch-Lee handles difficult themes race, displacement, memory without overexplaining them. She trusts the reader. And when the story slows down enough to focus on individual lives, those moments are powerful.
Ultimately, Livonia Chow Mein is a strong debut thoughtful, researched, and emotionally resonant, even if the structure occasionally pulls focus away from its characters. It’s the kind of book that sparks conversation, which made reading it in a group setting especially meaningful.
And honestly, hearing the author receive feedback in real time and respond with humility only deepened my appreciation for the work.
This is an ambitious debut that blends family saga, cultural history, and a layered mystery rooted in Brownsville, Brooklyn. At its best, the novel is immersive and deeply textured. The research alone is impressive Savitch-Lee brings 1970s Brooklyn to life with a sense of place that feels lived-in rather than constructed. You can feel the streets, the tension, the cultural intersections. What I appreciated most is that the novel resists leaning into easy stereotypes. Instead, it presents racial and class divisions with nuance, showing how those tensions operate both structurally and interpersonally.
Like many other readers have noted, the book’s strength lies in its scope. It’s not just telling one story it’s tracing generations, memory, and the aftershocks of a neighborhood shaped by fire, migration, and systemic inequality. That breadth gives the novel emotional weight and intellectual depth, aligning with broader praise that highlights its blend of “family saga” and “cultural history” with a strong sense of urban life. 
That said, the same ambition occasionally works against it.
The shifting timeline while clearly intentional can feel distracting. Rather than deepening the emotional connection to the characters, it sometimes interrupts it. There were moments where I wanted to stay longer with a character, to sit in their decisions and consequences, but the narrative moved on before that connection fully settled. This seems to echo a broader reader sentiment: the structure adds complexity, but not always clarity.
Even with that critique, the writing itself carries the novel. There’s a quiet confidence in how Savitch-Lee handles difficult themes race, displacement, memory without overexplaining them. She trusts the reader. And when the story slows down enough to focus on individual lives, those moments are powerful.
Ultimately, Livonia Chow Mein is a strong debut thoughtful, researched, and emotionally resonant, even if the structure occasionally pulls focus away from its characters. It’s the kind of book that sparks conversation, which made reading it in a group setting especially meaningful.
And honestly, hearing the author receive feedback in real time and respond with humility only deepened my appreciation for the work.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cultures converge in Brooklyn
It all starts with a terrible fire on Livonia Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in which two tenement buildings burn to the ground, displacing many and killing one. Mr. Wong, the current owner of his family's Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood, is fingered as the most likely culprit by the survivors. But why? Time passes without the truth. being discovered. Some 35 years later in 2013 Sadie Chin, an Ivy school graduate and journalist covering Brownsville for a small newspaper, is looking into her roots, discovers that she is related to the Wong family and sets out to uncover what happened all those years ago when flames broke out. She is helped in her investigation by Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, a community organizer with ties to both the Puerto Rican and Black communities. Can Sadie find out how the Wong family and their restaurant became the focus of neighborhood tensions, and how politics, different cultures and racism took a toll on the communities who lived on Livonia Avenue?
Livonia Chow Mein is a debut novel which is equal parts multi-generational family saga and cultural exploration with a mystery woven through its pages. In a neighborhood where Jewish, Black and Chinese cultures existed side by side (but not without challenges) the reader is introduced to four generations of the Wong family, from the immigrant patriarch who first opened the family restaurant down to Sadie, a Yale grad whose journalistic instincts set her on a path to find the truth about the fire for which her great-grandfather was blamed. America has long prided itself on being a melting pot, but as the novel progresses it paints a candid portrayal of a neighborhood whose make-up changes in less-than-seamless fashion and where government doesn't always make relations between different groups any better. There are a lot of players and moving parts which can become a little confusing at times, but overall I found it to be a worthwhile and thought-provoking read....not always comfortable, but with vivid characters and a strong sense of place. Fans of Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Acevedo and Angie Kim should give Livonia Chow Mein a try. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to the novel in exchange for my honest review.
It all starts with a terrible fire on Livonia Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in which two tenement buildings burn to the ground, displacing many and killing one. Mr. Wong, the current owner of his family's Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood, is fingered as the most likely culprit by the survivors. But why? Time passes without the truth. being discovered. Some 35 years later in 2013 Sadie Chin, an Ivy school graduate and journalist covering Brownsville for a small newspaper, is looking into her roots, discovers that she is related to the Wong family and sets out to uncover what happened all those years ago when flames broke out. She is helped in her investigation by Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, a community organizer with ties to both the Puerto Rican and Black communities. Can Sadie find out how the Wong family and their restaurant became the focus of neighborhood tensions, and how politics, different cultures and racism took a toll on the communities who lived on Livonia Avenue?
Livonia Chow Mein is a debut novel which is equal parts multi-generational family saga and cultural exploration with a mystery woven through its pages. In a neighborhood where Jewish, Black and Chinese cultures existed side by side (but not without challenges) the reader is introduced to four generations of the Wong family, from the immigrant patriarch who first opened the family restaurant down to Sadie, a Yale grad whose journalistic instincts set her on a path to find the truth about the fire for which her great-grandfather was blamed. America has long prided itself on being a melting pot, but as the novel progresses it paints a candid portrayal of a neighborhood whose make-up changes in less-than-seamless fashion and where government doesn't always make relations between different groups any better. There are a lot of players and moving parts which can become a little confusing at times, but overall I found it to be a worthwhile and thought-provoking read....not always comfortable, but with vivid characters and a strong sense of place. Fans of Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Acevedo and Angie Kim should give Livonia Chow Mein a try. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to the novel in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This country has enough resources to ensure every person has a home. That’s the America I want to live in. from Livonia CHow Mein by Abigail Savitch-Lew
This ambitious, complex novel is filled with raw emotion, a tragic fire linking the characters’ histories. Inspired by the history of the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn, the author recreates the complicated power dynamics that alter the neighborhood over generations.
The central crux of the story is the fire at 78 Livonia Avenue, killing one and displacing dozens. Rumor was that ‘Mr. Wong’, whose father had run a Chinese restaurant at that address, hired two boys to set the fire. The mixed neighborhood had supported the restaurant, but in the late 70s it was poor and black and ‘Mr. Wong’ turned it into housing. He couldn’t afford to fix the building, and he couldn’t sell the land.
New journalist Sadie Chin is investigating what really happened. Her grandfather was a paper son who had posed as Wong’s son, brought to America to help run the restaurant. The family later readopted their actual name of Chin. Did her grandfather commit a crime?
Victim of the fire Lina was a life long activist fighting for the community’s power for self-determination. She is one who believes that Sadie’s grandfather was responsible for destroying her home and the community school she held there. Lina wants the vacant property at 78 Livonia to become the home of a new community center. Investors see an opportunity for ‘affordable housing’ units. Lina knows Brownsville does not need more houses, it needs programs and facilities to improve the lives of the people already living there.
Brownsville’s not a broken place with broken people. Brownsville is organized, and next time, they better watch out, ’cause we getting stronger, we getting louder, and we are powerful! from Livonia Chow Mein
The book takes on so much! The experiences of Chinese immigrants, racism, changing neighborhoods with white flight and the arrival of crack cocaine, how politicians and capitalists profit while they destroy neighborhoods, and most of all, what it takes to survive and fight on.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for a free book through NetGalley.
This ambitious, complex novel is filled with raw emotion, a tragic fire linking the characters’ histories. Inspired by the history of the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn, the author recreates the complicated power dynamics that alter the neighborhood over generations.
The central crux of the story is the fire at 78 Livonia Avenue, killing one and displacing dozens. Rumor was that ‘Mr. Wong’, whose father had run a Chinese restaurant at that address, hired two boys to set the fire. The mixed neighborhood had supported the restaurant, but in the late 70s it was poor and black and ‘Mr. Wong’ turned it into housing. He couldn’t afford to fix the building, and he couldn’t sell the land.
New journalist Sadie Chin is investigating what really happened. Her grandfather was a paper son who had posed as Wong’s son, brought to America to help run the restaurant. The family later readopted their actual name of Chin. Did her grandfather commit a crime?
Victim of the fire Lina was a life long activist fighting for the community’s power for self-determination. She is one who believes that Sadie’s grandfather was responsible for destroying her home and the community school she held there. Lina wants the vacant property at 78 Livonia to become the home of a new community center. Investors see an opportunity for ‘affordable housing’ units. Lina knows Brownsville does not need more houses, it needs programs and facilities to improve the lives of the people already living there.
Brownsville’s not a broken place with broken people. Brownsville is organized, and next time, they better watch out, ’cause we getting stronger, we getting louder, and we are powerful! from Livonia Chow Mein
The book takes on so much! The experiences of Chinese immigrants, racism, changing neighborhoods with white flight and the arrival of crack cocaine, how politicians and capitalists profit while they destroy neighborhoods, and most of all, what it takes to survive and fight on.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for a free book through NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
An amazing epic, cross generational debut!
This story takes place in 1978, when a devastating fire destroys two tenement buildings on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn, killing one resident and displacing many others. The neighborhood suspicion falls on a Chinese American landlord, Richard Wong, whose restaurant once stood on that block. Decades later, journalist Sadie Chin returns to Brownsville to report on its evolving landscape and discovers her own family’s history is deeply tangled with the fire and its aftermath.
Alongside that, longtime community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong still fights for justice and equitable development for her neighbors. As Sadie digs deeper into the past, the novel covers four generations of the Wong family and their neighbors, revealing how personal and collective histories overlap with broader social change, and how some opinions and attitudes don't change over decades.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its sense of place: Brownsville practically becomes a character in its own right, with its cultural complexity, struggles, resilience, and transformations vividly rendered. Through the intertwined stories of Chinese, Jewish, Black, and Hispanic residents, the author analyzes the American Dream, immigration, and racial tensions, with empathy and historical depth.
The book also offers a satisfying mystery element as readers are drawn into Sadie’s investigative drive to uncover what really happened on the night of the fire.
There is great character development here as all the different races, ethnicities, and types of people live together and form bonds to each other and the neighborhood. Sadie goes back in time to unearth secrets, and hidden aspects of her family history that she didn't know existed to solve the mystery.
A great family history saga and perfect for lovers of multi-generational epic stories!
This story takes place in 1978, when a devastating fire destroys two tenement buildings on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn, killing one resident and displacing many others. The neighborhood suspicion falls on a Chinese American landlord, Richard Wong, whose restaurant once stood on that block. Decades later, journalist Sadie Chin returns to Brownsville to report on its evolving landscape and discovers her own family’s history is deeply tangled with the fire and its aftermath.
Alongside that, longtime community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong still fights for justice and equitable development for her neighbors. As Sadie digs deeper into the past, the novel covers four generations of the Wong family and their neighbors, revealing how personal and collective histories overlap with broader social change, and how some opinions and attitudes don't change over decades.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its sense of place: Brownsville practically becomes a character in its own right, with its cultural complexity, struggles, resilience, and transformations vividly rendered. Through the intertwined stories of Chinese, Jewish, Black, and Hispanic residents, the author analyzes the American Dream, immigration, and racial tensions, with empathy and historical depth.
The book also offers a satisfying mystery element as readers are drawn into Sadie’s investigative drive to uncover what really happened on the night of the fire.
There is great character development here as all the different races, ethnicities, and types of people live together and form bonds to each other and the neighborhood. Sadie goes back in time to unearth secrets, and hidden aspects of her family history that she didn't know existed to solve the mystery.
A great family history saga and perfect for lovers of multi-generational epic stories!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews