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The Family Chao
The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurant’s 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 family’s secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last.
Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found dead—presumed murdered—and his sons find they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurant’s reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightens—and the family dog meets an unexpected fate—Dagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their father’s 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.
Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found dead—presumed murdered—and his sons find they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurant’s reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightens—and the family dog meets an unexpected fate—Dagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their father’s 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.
320 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2022
1095 people are currently reading
23723 people want to read
About the author
Lan Samantha Chang
20 books349 followersLan Samantha Chang was born in Appleton, Wisconsin and attended college at Yale where she earned her bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies. She worked in publishing in New York City briefly before getting her MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and was a Wallace E. Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford. She is currently the Elizabeth M. Stanley Professor in the Arts at the University of Iowa and the Director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is the first woman, and the first Asian American, to hold that position.
Chang's first book is a novella and short stories, titled Hunger (1998). The stories are set in the US and China, and they explore home, family, and loss. The New York Times Book Review called it "Elegant.… A delicately calculated balance sheet of the losses and gains of immigrants whose lives are stretched between two radically different cultures." The Washington Post called it "A work of gorgeous, enduring prose." Her first novel, Inheritance (2004), is about a family torn apart by the Japanese invasion during World War II. The Boston Globe said: "The story…is foreign in its historical sweep and social detail but universal in its emotional truth." Chang's latest novel, All Is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost (2011), follows two poets and their friendship as they explore the depths and costs of making art. The book received a starred review from Booklist and praise: "Among the many threads Chang elegantly pursues—the fraught relationships between mentors and students, the value of poetry, the price of ambition—it is her indelible portrait of the loneliness of artistic endeavor that will haunt readers the most in this exquisitely written novel about the poet’s lot." Chang's fourth book and third novel, The Family Chao, is forthcoming in 2022.
Chang has received fellowships from MacDowell, the American Library in Paris, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
As the fifth director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Chang has been fundamental to the increase of racial, cultural, and aesthetic diversity within the program, and has mentored a number of emerging writers. In 2019, she received the Michael J. Brody Award and the Regents' Award for Excellence from the University of Iowa.
Website: https://lansamanthachang.com/
Chang's first book is a novella and short stories, titled Hunger (1998). The stories are set in the US and China, and they explore home, family, and loss. The New York Times Book Review called it "Elegant.… A delicately calculated balance sheet of the losses and gains of immigrants whose lives are stretched between two radically different cultures." The Washington Post called it "A work of gorgeous, enduring prose." Her first novel, Inheritance (2004), is about a family torn apart by the Japanese invasion during World War II. The Boston Globe said: "The story…is foreign in its historical sweep and social detail but universal in its emotional truth." Chang's latest novel, All Is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost (2011), follows two poets and their friendship as they explore the depths and costs of making art. The book received a starred review from Booklist and praise: "Among the many threads Chang elegantly pursues—the fraught relationships between mentors and students, the value of poetry, the price of ambition—it is her indelible portrait of the loneliness of artistic endeavor that will haunt readers the most in this exquisitely written novel about the poet’s lot." Chang's fourth book and third novel, The Family Chao, is forthcoming in 2022.
Chang has received fellowships from MacDowell, the American Library in Paris, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
As the fifth director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Chang has been fundamental to the increase of racial, cultural, and aesthetic diversity within the program, and has mentored a number of emerging writers. In 2019, she received the Michael J. Brody Award and the Regents' Award for Excellence from the University of Iowa.
Website: https://lansamanthachang.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,304 reviews
March 28, 2024
Whenever I come across a story about the Chinese American immigrant experience, I must read it. I'm forever trying to find that connection with others like myself, with people and characters who can somehow put into words a confounding experience, one I am still trying to figure out, even after so many years.
But that wasn't this book. It makes me sad to report that I couldn't find any connection at all with The Family Chao; the only familiar part was the food. Otherwise, this grotesque and dehumanizing tale repulsed me and made me wonder what the author was hoping to achieve.
To start, not a single character in here could be considered real or complex or likable. Instead, they're each an extreme caricature. The oldest brother is stubborn and reckless, the middle one is successful but emotionally gone, and the youngest is timid and meek. And they are all overshadowed by their loud, crude, and lewd father. Each character must stick to those narrowly defined traits and that's all the personality they have.
Their interactions with each other are so vulgar and bombastic that it made me cringe. There is a vitriol and malice behind them that is hard to stomach. This in-your-face style is so incongruous with Chinese familial interactions, which are always characterized more by what is unsaid than what is said. It made me question why the author chose to portray the characters in such a way, when they bear no resemblance to reality.
There is so much hatred in this book. Hatred for self, hatred for being immigrants, hatred for being Chinese, hatred of one's family, hatred of the future and the past. It comes off of the pages in waves and waves. There is no subtlety, only quantity.
There are also a lot of sexual references in this book, whether it's mentioning body parts or commenting on women or trying to have sex with them. But the descriptions are at best cold and emotionless, and at worst, offensive and obscene. It was so aggressively written that it was impossible to ignore.
At some point, the story even takes stereotypes and seem to encourage them. Is the restaurant serving dog meat? The fixation on how yellow the skin color is. How low the family will go for money. The implication that the only way to succeed is to marry a white woman (both of the older brothers are this way, whether through actions or feelings). Not a single one of these issues is addressed or resolved in any way.
As a reader, I have to ask myself: why did the author choose to write this? If you were going to write a story about a minority group often misunderstood, and you portray each person in the most simple and dehumanizing way—even going so far as to nickname the brothers "gou" (dog), a huge insult in Chinese—and you include some stereotypes that seem to further the misconception of who they are, what can possibly be the goal?
A book is a forum for an author to reach across the table to those they may not interact with otherwise. It's a chance to further understanding and portray people as both complex and human, in all the ways that are beautiful and ugly. But that didn't happen here. Maybe the author set out to do that, but somewhere along the way, the story got away from her and only the ugly remained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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But that wasn't this book. It makes me sad to report that I couldn't find any connection at all with The Family Chao; the only familiar part was the food. Otherwise, this grotesque and dehumanizing tale repulsed me and made me wonder what the author was hoping to achieve.
To start, not a single character in here could be considered real or complex or likable. Instead, they're each an extreme caricature. The oldest brother is stubborn and reckless, the middle one is successful but emotionally gone, and the youngest is timid and meek. And they are all overshadowed by their loud, crude, and lewd father. Each character must stick to those narrowly defined traits and that's all the personality they have.
Their interactions with each other are so vulgar and bombastic that it made me cringe. There is a vitriol and malice behind them that is hard to stomach. This in-your-face style is so incongruous with Chinese familial interactions, which are always characterized more by what is unsaid than what is said. It made me question why the author chose to portray the characters in such a way, when they bear no resemblance to reality.
There is so much hatred in this book. Hatred for self, hatred for being immigrants, hatred for being Chinese, hatred of one's family, hatred of the future and the past. It comes off of the pages in waves and waves. There is no subtlety, only quantity.
There are also a lot of sexual references in this book, whether it's mentioning body parts or commenting on women or trying to have sex with them. But the descriptions are at best cold and emotionless, and at worst, offensive and obscene. It was so aggressively written that it was impossible to ignore.
At some point, the story even takes stereotypes and seem to encourage them. Is the restaurant serving dog meat? The fixation on how yellow the skin color is. How low the family will go for money. The implication that the only way to succeed is to marry a white woman (both of the older brothers are this way, whether through actions or feelings). Not a single one of these issues is addressed or resolved in any way.
As a reader, I have to ask myself: why did the author choose to write this? If you were going to write a story about a minority group often misunderstood, and you portray each person in the most simple and dehumanizing way—even going so far as to nickname the brothers "gou" (dog), a huge insult in Chinese—and you include some stereotypes that seem to further the misconception of who they are, what can possibly be the goal?
A book is a forum for an author to reach across the table to those they may not interact with otherwise. It's a chance to further understanding and portray people as both complex and human, in all the ways that are beautiful and ugly. But that didn't happen here. Maybe the author set out to do that, but somewhere along the way, the story got away from her and only the ugly remained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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February 9, 2022
In a Nutshell: Strongly mixed feelings. The adaptation from a classic is faithfully done, but those who don’t know the original might just be left furious at the stereotypical depiction of Chinese Americans.
Story:
Those who have read Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ (or like me, taken the smart way out and watched the Yul Brynner movie 😉) will immediately spot that this is a retelling of the classic. (The blurbs on GR and Amazon don’t specify this fact, but the connection is obvious. The title also gives a nod to the original book.) The thing is, ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ was written by a Russian writer in 1879. He specialised in focussing on human behaviour under the troubled philosophical and social constructs of 19th century Russia. So this retelling is not just transposing a classic to the contemporary world but also transposing a Russian cultural story to a Chinese one, and a 19th century philosophy to the 21st century thinking. Not an easy job, and definitely not a recommended metamorphosis. This is an ambitious endeavour, and this is exactly why the book falters.
Leo Chao, who is the equivalent of Fyodor Karamazov from the original, is as vulgar and irritating as his Russian counterpart. For a 21st century person, this kind of lewd behaviour will cause many to blow their tops. I know mine did. I had to remind myself time and again that it’s a retelling of an old story. That’s the only way I could reach till the end. The same kind of oafish behaviour is also seen to a certain extent in the three sons, though none of them is in the same pits of moral degradation as their father. The book improves to a certain extent in the second half. The courtroom scenes helped salvage the story somewhat but it is a bit too late by then.
There’s a line in the book, from a scene where Ming is doing a radio broadcast. It goes:
( This kind of reminds me of how I felt reading Thrity Umrigar’s “The Spaces Between Us”. While the Western world goes gaga over the story, all I could see is hackneyed stereotypes and a strongly negative portrayal of my city and my people. I have a strong feeling Chinese Americans will feel the same way while reading this book. Well, at least Lan Samantha Chang has a (minor) justification in that she used the original Russian characters as a base for her plot. Umrigar has no such defence and is hence a greater villain in my eyes. )
For me, this book served as a good reminder of why some classics ought not to be retold for newer audiences. The Brothers Karamazov is one of them. It served well for the time it was written in and for the way its author raised existential questions from the characters’ dilemmas. In this book, the philosophy has been culled out to a bare minimum, and this further dilutes the purpose of the original. It should not have been modernised.
The audiobook clocks at 11 hours and is narrated by Brian Nishii. He was outstanding in his narration. One full star of my rating is for his performance. I highly appreciate his decision of not nasalising the voices of the female characters, rather, just voicing them at a softer pitch. I wish all male narrators did that. The audio version is a bit confusing at the start, but once you come to know the plethora of characters, it goes by smoothly.
Overall, I would recommend this ONLY if you have read the original and want to see how it would have worked in a contemporary period. Definitely not a must-read. If you just want to know the story, might as well read the original, or if you are like me and struggle with old Russian tomes, watch the Yul Brynner movie instead.
2 stars for the book, and an added 1 star for the narration.
My thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Family Chao”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
***********************
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Story:
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.
Those who have read Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ (or like me, taken the smart way out and watched the Yul Brynner movie 😉) will immediately spot that this is a retelling of the classic. (The blurbs on GR and Amazon don’t specify this fact, but the connection is obvious. The title also gives a nod to the original book.) The thing is, ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ was written by a Russian writer in 1879. He specialised in focussing on human behaviour under the troubled philosophical and social constructs of 19th century Russia. So this retelling is not just transposing a classic to the contemporary world but also transposing a Russian cultural story to a Chinese one, and a 19th century philosophy to the 21st century thinking. Not an easy job, and definitely not a recommended metamorphosis. This is an ambitious endeavour, and this is exactly why the book falters.
Leo Chao, who is the equivalent of Fyodor Karamazov from the original, is as vulgar and irritating as his Russian counterpart. For a 21st century person, this kind of lewd behaviour will cause many to blow their tops. I know mine did. I had to remind myself time and again that it’s a retelling of an old story. That’s the only way I could reach till the end. The same kind of oafish behaviour is also seen to a certain extent in the three sons, though none of them is in the same pits of moral degradation as their father. The book improves to a certain extent in the second half. The courtroom scenes helped salvage the story somewhat but it is a bit too late by then.
There’s a line in the book, from a scene where Ming is doing a radio broadcast. It goes:
“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.
( This kind of reminds me of how I felt reading Thrity Umrigar’s “The Spaces Between Us”. While the Western world goes gaga over the story, all I could see is hackneyed stereotypes and a strongly negative portrayal of my city and my people. I have a strong feeling Chinese Americans will feel the same way while reading this book. Well, at least Lan Samantha Chang has a (minor) justification in that she used the original Russian characters as a base for her plot. Umrigar has no such defence and is hence a greater villain in my eyes. )
For me, this book served as a good reminder of why some classics ought not to be retold for newer audiences. The Brothers Karamazov is one of them. It served well for the time it was written in and for the way its author raised existential questions from the characters’ dilemmas. In this book, the philosophy has been culled out to a bare minimum, and this further dilutes the purpose of the original. It should not have been modernised.
The audiobook clocks at 11 hours and is narrated by Brian Nishii. He was outstanding in his narration. One full star of my rating is for his performance. I highly appreciate his decision of not nasalising the voices of the female characters, rather, just voicing them at a softer pitch. I wish all male narrators did that. The audio version is a bit confusing at the start, but once you come to know the plethora of characters, it goes by smoothly.
Overall, I would recommend this ONLY if you have read the original and want to see how it would have worked in a contemporary period. Definitely not a must-read. If you just want to know the story, might as well read the original, or if you are like me and struggle with old Russian tomes, watch the Yul Brynner movie instead.
2 stars for the book, and an added 1 star for the narration.
My thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Family Chao”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
***********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
January 1, 2023
3.5 stars, rounded down
The Family Chao is a rich, character driven story. It explores a Chinese American family that runs a restaurant in Wisconsin. They’ve been part of the community for 30 years, but are still viewed as outsiders and subjected to casual racism. There are complicated family dynamics at work. The father is horrible - a narcissist, he’s cruel to everyone, but especially the eldest son. He makes and breaks promises with alarming ease. The eldest brother, William or Daguo, has failed in his attempt at a musical career and returned to town to work as the chef at the restaurant. The middle son, Ming, has left town and become successful in his own right. And James, the third son, is still in college studying pre-med. The mother has left the father to become a Buddhist nun.
While I appreciated the exploration of each son, I felt the first half of the book moved too slowly and was a slog to get through. The book’s description as a murder mystery is somewhat misplaced as the murder doesn’t takes place until ½ way through the book. The trial of Daguo covers the remaining half of the story. The ending is ambiguous and allows the reader to envision a wide variety of futures.
The story is dark and depressing. What humor there is, is cynical and sardonic. Supposedly, it’s a modern retelling of The Brothers Karamazov. Having never read the original, I can’t opine as to how well it works on that level.
The book deals with familial duty vs. living one’s own life and carving out one’s own identity. It also covers the prejudices of white Americans towards this family of “outsiders”. The book would make for an interesting book club selection.
I listened to this book, but I think it would have worked better if I had read it. It’s a hard book to take in all the nuances through listening. Plus, the pace made it hard for me to enjoy as an audiobook. Brian Nishili was the narrator and did a fine job.
My thanks to Netgalley and RB Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.
The Family Chao is a rich, character driven story. It explores a Chinese American family that runs a restaurant in Wisconsin. They’ve been part of the community for 30 years, but are still viewed as outsiders and subjected to casual racism. There are complicated family dynamics at work. The father is horrible - a narcissist, he’s cruel to everyone, but especially the eldest son. He makes and breaks promises with alarming ease. The eldest brother, William or Daguo, has failed in his attempt at a musical career and returned to town to work as the chef at the restaurant. The middle son, Ming, has left town and become successful in his own right. And James, the third son, is still in college studying pre-med. The mother has left the father to become a Buddhist nun.
While I appreciated the exploration of each son, I felt the first half of the book moved too slowly and was a slog to get through. The book’s description as a murder mystery is somewhat misplaced as the murder doesn’t takes place until ½ way through the book. The trial of Daguo covers the remaining half of the story. The ending is ambiguous and allows the reader to envision a wide variety of futures.
The story is dark and depressing. What humor there is, is cynical and sardonic. Supposedly, it’s a modern retelling of The Brothers Karamazov. Having never read the original, I can’t opine as to how well it works on that level.
The book deals with familial duty vs. living one’s own life and carving out one’s own identity. It also covers the prejudices of white Americans towards this family of “outsiders”. The book would make for an interesting book club selection.
I listened to this book, but I think it would have worked better if I had read it. It’s a hard book to take in all the nuances through listening. Plus, the pace made it hard for me to enjoy as an audiobook. Brian Nishili was the narrator and did a fine job.
My thanks to Netgalley and RB Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.
sampled-and-declined
September 3, 2023Marquise sampled a few chapters and, if you gave her to choose, she'll take Russian crazy over Chinese-American crazy any day, thank you very much. Oh, and written by Fyodor Mikhailovich, thank you very much.
Bottom line and note to self: For a retellings fanatic, Marquise really doesn't like Classics retellings. She should stick to fairy tales.
Bottom line and note to self: For a retellings fanatic, Marquise really doesn't like Classics retellings. She should stick to fairy tales.
November 9, 2021
4.5 stars
This one doesn’t publish until February 2022, but I received an advance copy early for review and I’m so glad I did, as I enjoyed it immensely. Supposedly this is a modern day retelling of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, but as I’ve never read that Russian classic, any parallels were lost on me. Instead, I was able to experience Lan Samantha Chang’s exquisite novel on its own merit and I was honestly quite impressed with the brilliant way that the story was told. At its heart, this is an immigrant story about a Chinese man named Leo Chao who settled with his wife Winnie in the small community of Haven, Wisconsin over thirty five years ago. Like many immigrants, Leo struggled to make a name for himself in a community where very few people looked like him, but eventually he was able to open Chinese restaurant The Fine Chao — though it can be argued that his true crowning achievement was having three handsome sons to carry on the family name. The eldest, William (who goes by the nickname “Dagou” or Big Dog), the head chef at the restaurant, is charismatic and larger than life (in both physical stature and personality), while second son Ming is the most successful, having built his own career and life away from the family; the youngest, James, is the good son — the college pre-med student who is passive, obedient, and full of love for everyone. All three sons are reuniting for Christmas in the small town where they grew up, called to gather by their mother Winnie, who has moved out of the house she shared with their father, giving up all her worldly possessions for “tranquility” at the Spiritual House that is run by Head Abbess Gu Ling Zhu Chi. We quickly find out that the family patriarch, the man responsible for serving some of the finest Chinese food this side of Wisconsin, is actually despised and hated: by most of the town due to him being an “outsider” whose success in pursuing the American Dream is resented by those in his predominantly white community who feel he is undeserving, and also by his own family due to him being a brash, tyrannical narcissist and philanderer who has no respect for his wife and also delights in mocking his sons (in other words, he pretty much lives for terrorizing his family). It is almost time for the annual Chao family Christmas party and even though things will be different this year with all the issues in their family, a tradition is a tradition and the party must go on. But after the party, Leo Chao is found dead — presumably murdered — in the basement of his restaurant and his sons suddenly find themselves thrust into the spotlight when one of them is accused of killing him. That spotlight tightens even more during the trial as intimate details about the family’s dysfunctional dynamics are revealed — at the same time though, it also shines a light on the inherent prejudices of a seemingly pleasant small town when its people are tasked with determining the fate of someone they’ve never considered as one of their own.
Given the premise of the story (a murder mystery involving the American-born sons of Chinese immigrant parents), I was actually expecting this to be a typical immigrant story, but it turned out to be very different (in a good way). Like many immigrant stories, this one also highlighted the hardships and sacrifices as well as the injustices that the members of the immigrant family endured, however what surprised me was how the author, Lan Samantha Chang, was able to tell the story so masterfully in a way that was humorous and witty yet also respectful and good-natured. Of course, suffering (as well as people dying) is no laughing matter and the prejudice that immigrants in this country face is a serious issue to contend with, but to be able to approach these difficult topics in a way that brings needed attention to them in an honest yet humorous way is definitely no easy feat. As a Chinese American daughter of immigrant Chinese parents who grew up in a household that straddled two completely opposite (and at times conflicting) cultures, I could absolutely relate to the Chao family at the center of this story. The idiosyncrasies of various members within the same family, the unique pressures that define the lives of immigrant families, the struggles with identity and belonging, the oftentimes fruitless but nevertheless enduring effort to try and reconcile seemingly insurmountable cultural differences, the micro-aggressions and unconscious biases that many of us who come from immigrant families can’t help but be keenly attuned to (whether we want to be or not), the constant struggle between being embarrassed by and ashamed of where we came from versus a sense of prideand being grateful for who we eventually become — many of these shared experiences with various characters in the story resonated deeply with me.
I personally found this book to be clever, astute, funny, and yes, delightful in the sense that reading it felt like I was sharing in on an inside joke with family that only those of us who came from a similar place in society would understand. With all that being said, I am keenly aware that other people who choose to read this book may have an entirely different reaction to it, which, of course, is fine. I still wholeheartedly recommend it, regardless.
Received ARC from W. W. Norton & Company via Bookbrowse First Impressions program.
January 29, 2022
I listened to the audiobook. It is supposed to be a reimagining of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I thought it dragged a bit in the beginning. It was pretty much setting up the story. The action picked up the last half of the book. There narrator did a great job creating the different characters adding dimension to the story. Overall, I enjoyed it.
The book centers on the Chao family and their restaurant Fine Chao. Serving up Americanized Chinese food, the residents of Haven Wisconsin have dined and loved the establishment for thirty-five years. Big Leo Chao is the head of the household. He is hard on his family and believes wild flowers bloom best among the rocks. His wife Winnie left her husband after their son James went off to school. She is now living a spiritual life as a Buddhist nun. They have three sons: Dagou the restaurants head chef, Ming successful but troubled, and James, a college student.
When the brothers reunite to host their annual Christmas dinner at the restaurant, family tensions rise. The next day Leo Chao is found dead. With Leo’s death viewed as a homicide, the Chao family is the talk of the town. The trial sheds light on possible motives for all three brothers. This kept me guessing who the murderer was until the very end.
Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
The book centers on the Chao family and their restaurant Fine Chao. Serving up Americanized Chinese food, the residents of Haven Wisconsin have dined and loved the establishment for thirty-five years. Big Leo Chao is the head of the household. He is hard on his family and believes wild flowers bloom best among the rocks. His wife Winnie left her husband after their son James went off to school. She is now living a spiritual life as a Buddhist nun. They have three sons: Dagou the restaurants head chef, Ming successful but troubled, and James, a college student.
When the brothers reunite to host their annual Christmas dinner at the restaurant, family tensions rise. The next day Leo Chao is found dead. With Leo’s death viewed as a homicide, the Chao family is the talk of the town. The trial sheds light on possible motives for all three brothers. This kept me guessing who the murderer was until the very end.
Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
February 7, 2022
Lan Samantha Chang’s The Family Chao revolves around a Chinese American immigrant family settled in Haven, Wisconsin who own and operate Fine Chao , a Chinese restaurant serving the local community for thirty five years.
Leo Chao , the patriarch, is a domineering figure who is generally disliked and is just barely tolerated by his family and the community . Winnie, his wife , left him after their youngest son left for college and having forsaken all worldly possessions is now a Buddhist nun in living in the Spiritual House within their community . Her sons remain in close contact with her and love her dearly . Of the three sons William (Dagou) , Ming, and James –“ the handsome son, the accomplished son, and the good son”, Dagou, once an aspiring musician without much success, had returned to help his father when their mother had fallen ill six year ago and now works with his father as a cook in the family restaurant and has a complicated love life. He is target of constant bullying and berating from his father, tensions compounding when he demands to be made partner in the family business as promised previously. Ming, the middle child and most successful of Leo’s sons chooses to distance himself as far as possible from his father and the community in which he has always felt like an outsider. Academically accomplished, he pursues a life of affluence in Manhattan. Growing up Chinese American in a predominantly white community, his childhood experiences coupled with his father’s abrasiveness leave him struggling with feelings of self-loathing and a general feeling of disconnect from his community. James, the youngest is a kind hearted and sensitive premed student. He looks up to his brothers and is fiercely loyal. The brothers join their father and their family dog Alf during Christmas right before the family is to host the annual Christmas dinner at their restaurant. What follows is a tense and confrontational family reunion with pent up resentments, secrets and deception bubbling to the surface of what was already a fractured, complicated and dysfunctional family dynamic.
Leo Chao dies after being locked in the freezer in his restaurant and his body is discovered the day after the party. The presumed murder puts the restaurant and family members in the spotlight. Subject to hushed speculations, open suspicion and public scrutiny, the family must answer questions raised not only among themselves but by their own community of friends and fellow immigrants and in the eyes of law. Complicating matters further is a missing bag of money, the life savings of a dead man whose family is searching for it and that was mistakenly picked up by James who tried to administer CPR to save this man’s life when he collapsed at Union Station.
The story combines family drama, mystery and dark humor and explores themes of ambition, family, loyalty, mental health, spirituality , cultural identity, racial stereotyping and immigrant assimilation. The first half of the book is slower in pace, building up to the death of Leo Chao. The author’s sensitive yet insightful portrayal of second generation immigrant experiences and the struggles associated with conflicting expectations and cross-cultural identity is commendable. The second half is relatively fast paced describing the subsequent trial and unraveling of the mystery .
The novel is described as a retelling of a Russian classic, but I would say that on its very own , The Family Chao is a very well structured , engaging and enjoyable literary mystery. Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Leo Chao , the patriarch, is a domineering figure who is generally disliked and is just barely tolerated by his family and the community . Winnie, his wife , left him after their youngest son left for college and having forsaken all worldly possessions is now a Buddhist nun in living in the Spiritual House within their community . Her sons remain in close contact with her and love her dearly . Of the three sons William (Dagou) , Ming, and James –“ the handsome son, the accomplished son, and the good son”, Dagou, once an aspiring musician without much success, had returned to help his father when their mother had fallen ill six year ago and now works with his father as a cook in the family restaurant and has a complicated love life. He is target of constant bullying and berating from his father, tensions compounding when he demands to be made partner in the family business as promised previously. Ming, the middle child and most successful of Leo’s sons chooses to distance himself as far as possible from his father and the community in which he has always felt like an outsider. Academically accomplished, he pursues a life of affluence in Manhattan. Growing up Chinese American in a predominantly white community, his childhood experiences coupled with his father’s abrasiveness leave him struggling with feelings of self-loathing and a general feeling of disconnect from his community. James, the youngest is a kind hearted and sensitive premed student. He looks up to his brothers and is fiercely loyal. The brothers join their father and their family dog Alf during Christmas right before the family is to host the annual Christmas dinner at their restaurant. What follows is a tense and confrontational family reunion with pent up resentments, secrets and deception bubbling to the surface of what was already a fractured, complicated and dysfunctional family dynamic.
Leo Chao dies after being locked in the freezer in his restaurant and his body is discovered the day after the party. The presumed murder puts the restaurant and family members in the spotlight. Subject to hushed speculations, open suspicion and public scrutiny, the family must answer questions raised not only among themselves but by their own community of friends and fellow immigrants and in the eyes of law. Complicating matters further is a missing bag of money, the life savings of a dead man whose family is searching for it and that was mistakenly picked up by James who tried to administer CPR to save this man’s life when he collapsed at Union Station.
The story combines family drama, mystery and dark humor and explores themes of ambition, family, loyalty, mental health, spirituality , cultural identity, racial stereotyping and immigrant assimilation. The first half of the book is slower in pace, building up to the death of Leo Chao. The author’s sensitive yet insightful portrayal of second generation immigrant experiences and the struggles associated with conflicting expectations and cross-cultural identity is commendable. The second half is relatively fast paced describing the subsequent trial and unraveling of the mystery .
The novel is described as a retelling of a Russian classic, but I would say that on its very own , The Family Chao is a very well structured , engaging and enjoyable literary mystery. Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 20, 2022
This was alright. I think I was expecting something a little more dynamic in a book revolving around a murder mystery, but it wasn’t bad.
At a Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin, James is returning home from college to see his family for the holidays. His mother, Winnie, has recently left his domineering father, Leo Chao, and joined a convent. Also in town are James’ older brothers Dagou and Ming, one of whom never left Haven while the other got as far away from his roots as possible. They get together for a lavish meal prepared by the oldest brother, Dagou, and it devolves into a major conflict between Leo and the majority of his family.
The next day the Chao patriarch is found dead, with suspicion immediately falling upon his three sons. One of the brothers is arrested and the other two look for exonerating information all while living under the community’s scrutiny. Though The Family Chao is centered around a mysterious death, at the heart is a tale of complex family dynamics and the inheritance of generational scars, especially amongst immigrant families.
I’m actually little surprised at how late in the story Leo Chao dies, since the synopsis is so upfront about it. It was a little difficult for me to get a handle on the dynamics amongst the three sons, since so much of the build-up in the first act is about each of their relationships with their father. The most effective parts of the book for me ended up being when the Chao kids reflected on their experiences living in Haven as the children of immigrants. It was really interesting to see how the same circumstances manifested differently in each of them.
I feel like there was a disconnect between everything leading up to the dinner and the eventual trial after the fact. A lot was lost in the time jump, and I never really regained my footing within the narrative. However, that second act ended up containing some of the more incisive criticism of white American racism, both institutional and individual. The take down of so-called “animal lovers” who value a hypothetical pet over the actual lives of humans (and animals killed for food and consumer goods, while we’re at it) was especially well done. As was the commentary on the overlap of online conspiracies, hate campaigns and racism.
Overall I enjoyed the book! But I think I liked individual aspects of it better than as a complete story.
*Thanks to W.W. Norton for my review copies!
*Follow along on Instagram at @elle_mentbooks!
At a Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin, James is returning home from college to see his family for the holidays. His mother, Winnie, has recently left his domineering father, Leo Chao, and joined a convent. Also in town are James’ older brothers Dagou and Ming, one of whom never left Haven while the other got as far away from his roots as possible. They get together for a lavish meal prepared by the oldest brother, Dagou, and it devolves into a major conflict between Leo and the majority of his family.
The next day the Chao patriarch is found dead, with suspicion immediately falling upon his three sons. One of the brothers is arrested and the other two look for exonerating information all while living under the community’s scrutiny. Though The Family Chao is centered around a mysterious death, at the heart is a tale of complex family dynamics and the inheritance of generational scars, especially amongst immigrant families.
I’m actually little surprised at how late in the story Leo Chao dies, since the synopsis is so upfront about it. It was a little difficult for me to get a handle on the dynamics amongst the three sons, since so much of the build-up in the first act is about each of their relationships with their father. The most effective parts of the book for me ended up being when the Chao kids reflected on their experiences living in Haven as the children of immigrants. It was really interesting to see how the same circumstances manifested differently in each of them.
I feel like there was a disconnect between everything leading up to the dinner and the eventual trial after the fact. A lot was lost in the time jump, and I never really regained my footing within the narrative. However, that second act ended up containing some of the more incisive criticism of white American racism, both institutional and individual. The take down of so-called “animal lovers” who value a hypothetical pet over the actual lives of humans (and animals killed for food and consumer goods, while we’re at it) was especially well done. As was the commentary on the overlap of online conspiracies, hate campaigns and racism.
Overall I enjoyed the book! But I think I liked individual aspects of it better than as a complete story.
*Thanks to W.W. Norton for my review copies!
*Follow along on Instagram at @elle_mentbooks!
November 8, 2021
What an amazing reimagining of the Brothers Karamazov! Even though the brothers in question here are the three sons of Leo Chao, “the consummate American id, an insatiable narcissist, a shameless capitalist who wanted to screw everyone”, the framework of the classic Russian novel and its themes are solidly cemented in place.
Like the Brothers Karamazov, the plot is fueled by the relationship of a father with his adult sons. The older son, Dagou (like his counterpart, Dmitri) is in need of an inheritance, which is being withheld by his father, whom he passionately hates. The middle son, Ming (Ivan) is sullen, isolated and intellectually brilliant. Young James (Alexel), the youngest, is the likeable youngest brother and the moral compass of the book. When Leo, who believes only in the primacy of self, is found dead, nobody is unhappy but someone has to pay. Can a flawed but heartfelt Asian man get a fair shake in a quintessentially American justice system?
Had Lan Samantha Chang crafted a modern-day version of an all-time favorite classic, this novel would have been a success. But she goes further, exploring the passions and rivalries of an “outsider” family in pursuit of the American Dream. Merging humor with pathos, Ms. Chang expertly navigates the subtle and overt prejudices and biases of “real” Americans toward Chinese immigrant families (even those who have been here for a few generations) and the plight of those immigrants who profit from the Dream while being held at arms-length.
By merging a family drama, an immigrant story, a literary mystery and a deep dive into what it means to be American, The Family Chao succeeds on many different levels. A big thanks to BookBrowse and W.W. Norton & Company for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.
Like the Brothers Karamazov, the plot is fueled by the relationship of a father with his adult sons. The older son, Dagou (like his counterpart, Dmitri) is in need of an inheritance, which is being withheld by his father, whom he passionately hates. The middle son, Ming (Ivan) is sullen, isolated and intellectually brilliant. Young James (Alexel), the youngest, is the likeable youngest brother and the moral compass of the book. When Leo, who believes only in the primacy of self, is found dead, nobody is unhappy but someone has to pay. Can a flawed but heartfelt Asian man get a fair shake in a quintessentially American justice system?
Had Lan Samantha Chang crafted a modern-day version of an all-time favorite classic, this novel would have been a success. But she goes further, exploring the passions and rivalries of an “outsider” family in pursuit of the American Dream. Merging humor with pathos, Ms. Chang expertly navigates the subtle and overt prejudices and biases of “real” Americans toward Chinese immigrant families (even those who have been here for a few generations) and the plight of those immigrants who profit from the Dream while being held at arms-length.
By merging a family drama, an immigrant story, a literary mystery and a deep dive into what it means to be American, The Family Chao succeeds on many different levels. A big thanks to BookBrowse and W.W. Norton & Company for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.
December 9, 2024
This book leaves me a bit speechless. I have a lot of complicated emotions tangled up between Americanism, racism, filial piety, what is family, who deserves what, the perfect crime, a deserving victim, xenophobia, stereotypes, sibling loyalty, and a thousand things that I'm not sure anyone who isn't an immigrant might ever understand and a thousand things that perhaps only Asians from Buddhist and Confucian based cultures might understand.
I would like to take a moment to dispel an unfair and moralistic stereotype (because this racist assumption came up in the book): Koreans do not eat dogs!!!!! Yes, at one point in time, we ate dogs, but it is now illegal. First of all, dogs as pets is a relatively new concept in Korea, and back when people were far poorer, too poor to house and feed a pet, dogs were considered animal meat like any other animal that is consumed. Heck, the really poor ate grasshoppers too. Secondly, Koreans used to eat dogs as an alternative to cows, given cows were a more highly valued animal and supply was limited and protein was nonetheless needed. It was also believed to be medicinally beneficial many, many, many years ago (like most of you weren't born yet, many years ago). Lastly, as a vegetarian, I have to tell all those hypocrite meat eaters out there that eating a dog as meat is as unappealing to me as eating a cow or a pig or a chicken. In fact, to Hindus, all the hamburger eating Americans are scandalous. French eat horses and frogs (both being domesticated animals for many people around the world). Japan, though illegal, has been known to eat whale. My goddaughter's nanny ate guinea pigs in Peru. People eat food however they can to survive or because it's part of their culture. I might look at someone and ask why they can't just eat broccoli and beans. Stop being so judgmental and try to look at the world from outside your head! (Yes, this conversation REALLY annoys me, and I've had it one time too many.)
Rant over. Back to the book. I found this book very clever and deeply disturbing (and not just because I had to wag my educating finger at anyone who still thinks Koreans eat dogs!). It was disturbing because it upset the model minority, brought forward assumed and accepted racist notions, and asks us to consider how much guilt is enough and how much of that guilt needs to be paid for in blood. It's a lot to think about. I forget where I heard of this book, but I'm so glad I did. I'll be looking for this author again!
I would like to take a moment to dispel an unfair and moralistic stereotype (because this racist assumption came up in the book): Koreans do not eat dogs!!!!! Yes, at one point in time, we ate dogs, but it is now illegal. First of all, dogs as pets is a relatively new concept in Korea, and back when people were far poorer, too poor to house and feed a pet, dogs were considered animal meat like any other animal that is consumed. Heck, the really poor ate grasshoppers too. Secondly, Koreans used to eat dogs as an alternative to cows, given cows were a more highly valued animal and supply was limited and protein was nonetheless needed. It was also believed to be medicinally beneficial many, many, many years ago (like most of you weren't born yet, many years ago). Lastly, as a vegetarian, I have to tell all those hypocrite meat eaters out there that eating a dog as meat is as unappealing to me as eating a cow or a pig or a chicken. In fact, to Hindus, all the hamburger eating Americans are scandalous. French eat horses and frogs (both being domesticated animals for many people around the world). Japan, though illegal, has been known to eat whale. My goddaughter's nanny ate guinea pigs in Peru. People eat food however they can to survive or because it's part of their culture. I might look at someone and ask why they can't just eat broccoli and beans. Stop being so judgmental and try to look at the world from outside your head! (Yes, this conversation REALLY annoys me, and I've had it one time too many.)
Rant over. Back to the book. I found this book very clever and deeply disturbing (and not just because I had to wag my educating finger at anyone who still thinks Koreans eat dogs!). It was disturbing because it upset the model minority, brought forward assumed and accepted racist notions, and asks us to consider how much guilt is enough and how much of that guilt needs to be paid for in blood. It's a lot to think about. I forget where I heard of this book, but I'm so glad I did. I'll be looking for this author again!
June 8, 2022
Lan Samantha Chang's The Family Chao offers readers an engaging cross-genre experience. It's a mystery; it's a generational story; it's an immigrant tale; it's both a comedy and a tragedy. Pretty much none of this book's characters are completely likeable (I'll make an exception for the mom, Winnie), but most of them are likeable enough that we enjoy watching the different directions in which their impulses direct them.
In a mostly white Wisconsin town Fine Chao Restaurant is the go-to place for Chinese food. First-generation immigrant father Leo Chao is a bully, determined to diminish all those around him. His sons Dagou, Ming, and James are all torn between the desire to support the family and its business and to remain as far away as possible from Leo. So, when Leo Chao dies on Christmas Eve, locked into a cold-storage room after an annual family party, there are three good suspects.
The Family Chao follows the arrest and trial of one of the sons, but keeps readers guessing about what role each of the three may have played in Leo's demise. A truly mysterious mystery (you won't guess whodunnit), this title gives readers a great many satisfactions along the way.
I received a free electronic review title of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
In a mostly white Wisconsin town Fine Chao Restaurant is the go-to place for Chinese food. First-generation immigrant father Leo Chao is a bully, determined to diminish all those around him. His sons Dagou, Ming, and James are all torn between the desire to support the family and its business and to remain as far away as possible from Leo. So, when Leo Chao dies on Christmas Eve, locked into a cold-storage room after an annual family party, there are three good suspects.
The Family Chao follows the arrest and trial of one of the sons, but keeps readers guessing about what role each of the three may have played in Leo's demise. A truly mysterious mystery (you won't guess whodunnit), this title gives readers a great many satisfactions along the way.
I received a free electronic review title of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
February 6, 2022
Family Relationships + Holiday Stress + Tight Funds + Shocking Death = Cozy Mystery
I love immigrant stories, cozy mysteries and family drama's, thus I requested this book for entertainment purposes. I found it moderately entertaining in the first half. The author's notes states she worked on this for fifteen years in between being a wife, mom, author and teacher at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. The writing was competent and thorough, divided into two parts.
Part One delivered all that I anticipated. We are introduced to three sons, two of them are quite driven, talented and advancing in their careers. The oldest, Dagou (William) had been successful but returned home to the Midwest to help his aging father, a Chinese immigrant manage the family restaurant. There was a lot of animosity between them due to the Narcissistic nature of the Father (Ba). In recent years, the beloved mother, Winnie has left Ba due to his adultery and other unacceptable narcissistic behaviors. Ba's poor treatment of Winnie has raised the ire of all three boys, who have strong love/hate feelings (primarily hate) toward Ba and his manipulative behaviors directed toward them as well.
When Ba dies, the authorities are quite suspicious of the oldest, Dagou, who had made a comment about wanting to kill his father. However, as we moved through the first half, we see that Ba wasn't liked by many in the local Chinese community or the predominate white population among those with whom he did business. Dagou proclaims his innocence. Although he has an alibi, he is arrested. A trial results, which is the focus of the second portion.
I found the first part much more enjoyable than the second part. I liked meeting the boys when they were younger and specific episodes of family life good and bad as James remembered. Their struggles to fit in despite being Asian, reminded me of conversations I had with my Chinese bestfriend in high school, my Chinese friend in college, as well as several African-American friends in college and beyond. I'll never understand it personally because I haven't experienced it, first hand. Though I hope I am empathetic and respectful.
We witness how each young man sought to compensate for his obvious difference by trying to be perfect (this is something I have heard from my friends, who have immigrated from various continents), it is not just an Asian challenge. The need to be the best possible representative from their country because they know that their culture may be known for only one thing (like war, civil unrest, product, etc.) or perhaps, it is not even known at all.
Three of my grandparents (all predeceased before my arrival) were immigrants. My Father's parents were both strongly disliked because they were German (watch the movie "Sweet Land") to see the hate American's had for Germans following WWI. They had left dire poverty after the war, only to experience dire poverty in an American ghetto (Pittsburgh). My father talked about being hungry, sleeping on the sofa which he shared with his cousin, as well as the violence within his home. So, this part resonated for me, especially since my father's need to be known and well liked within the community, to be popular, to over achieve in whichever field he was employed and to score with the ladies was all to familiar for me.
Dating was a focus throughout the story. Dagou had a 10 year relationship with an Asian woman. There was also some focus on dating white girls by Ming, it seemed to give him better self-esteem. However, while I know how young men talk about women when going through puberty and while being in their twenties, I felt the objectification of women and the VERY detailed discussion of sex to be both extreme and explicit, it was unnecessary and added nothing to the story's quality.
The second part dragged. The focus was the trial and how involved members dealt with the stress, there were many rumors directed at Dagou and the family, which added to the drama but frankly it was just to long and overly detailed. The author introduced the twist, which was the best part of the story but handled very weirdly. The son's reactions seemed unrealistic, so it left me unsettled.
Conclusion: Part one was interesting as it introduced us to the characters. I did laugh out loud a few times but it didn't leave a lasting impression over-all, I'd rate it close to a four. The second portion, had an added surprise but it was drawn out and I kept thinking "get on with it". I put the book aside for two weeks at the last 40 pages, I'm rating that section a two.
A light cozy mystery that delivers unique entertainment with its focus on the immigrant experience.
Thank you to the publisher, Lan Samantha Chang and Goodreads for the opportunity to read an ARC in return for my review. All opinions are my own.
I love immigrant stories, cozy mysteries and family drama's, thus I requested this book for entertainment purposes. I found it moderately entertaining in the first half. The author's notes states she worked on this for fifteen years in between being a wife, mom, author and teacher at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. The writing was competent and thorough, divided into two parts.
Part One delivered all that I anticipated. We are introduced to three sons, two of them are quite driven, talented and advancing in their careers. The oldest, Dagou (William) had been successful but returned home to the Midwest to help his aging father, a Chinese immigrant manage the family restaurant. There was a lot of animosity between them due to the Narcissistic nature of the Father (Ba). In recent years, the beloved mother, Winnie has left Ba due to his adultery and other unacceptable narcissistic behaviors. Ba's poor treatment of Winnie has raised the ire of all three boys, who have strong love/hate feelings (primarily hate) toward Ba and his manipulative behaviors directed toward them as well.
When Ba dies, the authorities are quite suspicious of the oldest, Dagou, who had made a comment about wanting to kill his father. However, as we moved through the first half, we see that Ba wasn't liked by many in the local Chinese community or the predominate white population among those with whom he did business. Dagou proclaims his innocence. Although he has an alibi, he is arrested. A trial results, which is the focus of the second portion.
I found the first part much more enjoyable than the second part. I liked meeting the boys when they were younger and specific episodes of family life good and bad as James remembered. Their struggles to fit in despite being Asian, reminded me of conversations I had with my Chinese bestfriend in high school, my Chinese friend in college, as well as several African-American friends in college and beyond. I'll never understand it personally because I haven't experienced it, first hand. Though I hope I am empathetic and respectful.
We witness how each young man sought to compensate for his obvious difference by trying to be perfect (this is something I have heard from my friends, who have immigrated from various continents), it is not just an Asian challenge. The need to be the best possible representative from their country because they know that their culture may be known for only one thing (like war, civil unrest, product, etc.) or perhaps, it is not even known at all.
Three of my grandparents (all predeceased before my arrival) were immigrants. My Father's parents were both strongly disliked because they were German (watch the movie "Sweet Land") to see the hate American's had for Germans following WWI. They had left dire poverty after the war, only to experience dire poverty in an American ghetto (Pittsburgh). My father talked about being hungry, sleeping on the sofa which he shared with his cousin, as well as the violence within his home. So, this part resonated for me, especially since my father's need to be known and well liked within the community, to be popular, to over achieve in whichever field he was employed and to score with the ladies was all to familiar for me.
Dating was a focus throughout the story. Dagou had a 10 year relationship with an Asian woman. There was also some focus on dating white girls by Ming, it seemed to give him better self-esteem. However, while I know how young men talk about women when going through puberty and while being in their twenties, I felt the objectification of women and the VERY detailed discussion of sex to be both extreme and explicit, it was unnecessary and added nothing to the story's quality.
The second part dragged. The focus was the trial and how involved members dealt with the stress, there were many rumors directed at Dagou and the family, which added to the drama but frankly it was just to long and overly detailed. The author introduced the twist, which was the best part of the story but handled very weirdly. The son's reactions seemed unrealistic, so it left me unsettled.
Conclusion: Part one was interesting as it introduced us to the characters. I did laugh out loud a few times but it didn't leave a lasting impression over-all, I'd rate it close to a four. The second portion, had an added surprise but it was drawn out and I kept thinking "get on with it". I put the book aside for two weeks at the last 40 pages, I'm rating that section a two.
A light cozy mystery that delivers unique entertainment with its focus on the immigrant experience.
Thank you to the publisher, Lan Samantha Chang and Goodreads for the opportunity to read an ARC in return for my review. All opinions are my own.
February 16, 2022
A Chinese American family has operated a successful Chinese restaurant for many years. The father is unloved, and unlovable, by his family, the mother has moved out of their home and the 3 sons are now converging for a family meeting.
The blurb for this book says that “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”. That describes a completely different book than the one I read. First, it was not highly entertaining and second, there were no dark undercurrents in the town, all of the darkness was in the family. Most of the unpleasantness came from the father of the family, a crude bully, but all members of the family were awash in bitterness, weakness and self-hatred. It wasn’t a fun book.
After I started the book, I read that it is supposed to be based on “The Brothers Karamazov”. I read that book a million years ago and remember nothing about it. Maybe this book would have been more interesting if I could have tried to identify parallels between the two books. That might have also been an entertaining exercise for the author, but I don’t know why the author couldn’t have just written about an American immigrant family without reference to a group of 19th century Russians. One problem I had with the book was that the characters had conversations that only an author could create. The blurb also has an irresponsible tease about the fate of the family dog.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.
The blurb for this book says that “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”. That describes a completely different book than the one I read. First, it was not highly entertaining and second, there were no dark undercurrents in the town, all of the darkness was in the family. Most of the unpleasantness came from the father of the family, a crude bully, but all members of the family were awash in bitterness, weakness and self-hatred. It wasn’t a fun book.
After I started the book, I read that it is supposed to be based on “The Brothers Karamazov”. I read that book a million years ago and remember nothing about it. Maybe this book would have been more interesting if I could have tried to identify parallels between the two books. That might have also been an entertaining exercise for the author, but I don’t know why the author couldn’t have just written about an American immigrant family without reference to a group of 19th century Russians. One problem I had with the book was that the characters had conversations that only an author could create. The blurb also has an irresponsible tease about the fate of the family dog.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.
January 25, 2022
My thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for a review copy of the book.
In The Family Chao, author Lan Samantha Chang gives us a retelling of The Brothers Karamazov but by setting it amongst a Chinese-American immigrant family, she weaves in further complexities of discrimination and prejudice and also of identity and belonging.
Leo and Winnie Chao are immigrants in a small town, Haven, in Wisconsin, and run a Chinese restaurant Fine Chao. They have three sons, William ‘Daggo’, Ming, and James, all good-looking but very different from each other in personality. Leo Chao is domineering and cruel, never giving up any opportunity of bullying his wife and sons, and also engaging in any amount of cheating and manipulation, little liked even amongst the immigrant community. The Chaos have been living in Haven for thirty years, but the three boys are always treated as outsiders, facing finger-pointing and name-calling, besides grappling with their father’s almost incessant torments. Dagou, the eldest has tried to make a career in music and failed, and has returned to the restaurant where he started working when his mother fell ill but stayed on. Ming tries his best to have as little connection with the town and family and even his identity, building a high-flying career for himself in New York, while the youngest James is in college—with ambitions to be a doctor.
When our story opens, James and Ming have come home for a special luncheon at the spiritual house, where Winnie has moved and taken vows some months ago, having given up her worldly possessions. We find that Dagou wants to confront his father who had promised him partnership in the restaurant but has now reneged on his word. Unpleasant words are exchanged, and Dagou voices threats. Soon the annual Christmas Party takes places at the restaurant for family and friends. For his mother, Dagou puts together the best party he possibly can. But the next morning Leo Chao is found dead—locked in the restaurant’s freezer room. Dagou, whose animosity towards and threats against his father were known by everyone, is arrested and tried. At the trial, however, more than the crime itself, issues of community and identity and prejudice are at the centre, and rumours run rife. As we navigate the trial and the family’s attempts to clear Dagou’s name, many secrets are revealed while there is also the mystery of who actually killed Leo.
This was a gripping and highly readable book; while I didn’t quite remember all the details of the Brothers Karamazov, I could see that the author has used the broad frame of the story with a manipulative and cruel father who shares a tempestuous relationship with his sons, and who is murdered, with suspicion thrown on the eldest. The personalities of the three brothers too, so far as I can remember do reflect the three Karamazovs (I only specifically remembered the oldest being strong in his emotions and giving vent to his passions, while the youngest Alyosha, the monk, believing the best of everyone).
But within this frame, she has given the three brothers individual personalities defined by more than the elements from the Karamazovs. Ming is perhaps the one we get to see most closely; he is so deeply impacted by the prejudice and discrimination all his life, that his sole aim seems to cut every tie with his identity; hating it so much that he feels cutting himself off will somehow make him something different than what he is (considering that he is otherwise intelligent, this seems irrational, yet one can perhaps understand a little). In fact, even overall, while the story might follow the broad structure of the Karamazovs, issues of discrimination and race add a further layer of depth to it, reflecting very much a kind of scenario that we would likely see in such a situation in present times—with elements of insider/outsider views; the web generating debate and comments; and every person expressing a loud view, notwithstanding how much they really know or understand. These aspects—the struggles that immigrants families have to undergo every day, the prejudice they have to face in the event of a situation like this one was excellently portrayed.
The mystery thread in the story also kept me engaged; I had honestly forgotten the answer from the Karamazovs so couldn’t really make any guesses as to whether this book would follow the same path or how it would turn out. There are also plenty of secrets and revelations all through with a few additional threads thrown in (which are also woven into the trial) which kept me reading.
I enjoyed the book overall, and my complaint if any was with the ending in terms of threads that are left for us to interpret. There are more than one way some things can go, and with the characters and circumstances as they were I felt I couldn’t make up my mind as to how things would actually turn out.
But an excellent retelling overall—4.25 stars!
In The Family Chao, author Lan Samantha Chang gives us a retelling of The Brothers Karamazov but by setting it amongst a Chinese-American immigrant family, she weaves in further complexities of discrimination and prejudice and also of identity and belonging.
Leo and Winnie Chao are immigrants in a small town, Haven, in Wisconsin, and run a Chinese restaurant Fine Chao. They have three sons, William ‘Daggo’, Ming, and James, all good-looking but very different from each other in personality. Leo Chao is domineering and cruel, never giving up any opportunity of bullying his wife and sons, and also engaging in any amount of cheating and manipulation, little liked even amongst the immigrant community. The Chaos have been living in Haven for thirty years, but the three boys are always treated as outsiders, facing finger-pointing and name-calling, besides grappling with their father’s almost incessant torments. Dagou, the eldest has tried to make a career in music and failed, and has returned to the restaurant where he started working when his mother fell ill but stayed on. Ming tries his best to have as little connection with the town and family and even his identity, building a high-flying career for himself in New York, while the youngest James is in college—with ambitions to be a doctor.
When our story opens, James and Ming have come home for a special luncheon at the spiritual house, where Winnie has moved and taken vows some months ago, having given up her worldly possessions. We find that Dagou wants to confront his father who had promised him partnership in the restaurant but has now reneged on his word. Unpleasant words are exchanged, and Dagou voices threats. Soon the annual Christmas Party takes places at the restaurant for family and friends. For his mother, Dagou puts together the best party he possibly can. But the next morning Leo Chao is found dead—locked in the restaurant’s freezer room. Dagou, whose animosity towards and threats against his father were known by everyone, is arrested and tried. At the trial, however, more than the crime itself, issues of community and identity and prejudice are at the centre, and rumours run rife. As we navigate the trial and the family’s attempts to clear Dagou’s name, many secrets are revealed while there is also the mystery of who actually killed Leo.
This was a gripping and highly readable book; while I didn’t quite remember all the details of the Brothers Karamazov, I could see that the author has used the broad frame of the story with a manipulative and cruel father who shares a tempestuous relationship with his sons, and who is murdered, with suspicion thrown on the eldest. The personalities of the three brothers too, so far as I can remember do reflect the three Karamazovs (I only specifically remembered the oldest being strong in his emotions and giving vent to his passions, while the youngest Alyosha, the monk, believing the best of everyone).
But within this frame, she has given the three brothers individual personalities defined by more than the elements from the Karamazovs. Ming is perhaps the one we get to see most closely; he is so deeply impacted by the prejudice and discrimination all his life, that his sole aim seems to cut every tie with his identity; hating it so much that he feels cutting himself off will somehow make him something different than what he is (considering that he is otherwise intelligent, this seems irrational, yet one can perhaps understand a little). In fact, even overall, while the story might follow the broad structure of the Karamazovs, issues of discrimination and race add a further layer of depth to it, reflecting very much a kind of scenario that we would likely see in such a situation in present times—with elements of insider/outsider views; the web generating debate and comments; and every person expressing a loud view, notwithstanding how much they really know or understand. These aspects—the struggles that immigrants families have to undergo every day, the prejudice they have to face in the event of a situation like this one was excellently portrayed.
The mystery thread in the story also kept me engaged; I had honestly forgotten the answer from the Karamazovs so couldn’t really make any guesses as to whether this book would follow the same path or how it would turn out. There are also plenty of secrets and revelations all through with a few additional threads thrown in (which are also woven into the trial) which kept me reading.
I enjoyed the book overall, and my complaint if any was with the ending in terms of threads that are left for us to interpret. There are more than one way some things can go, and with the characters and circumstances as they were I felt I couldn’t make up my mind as to how things would actually turn out.
But an excellent retelling overall—4.25 stars!
August 22, 2022
I received this book from Net galley, in exchange for an honest review.
The plotline is based on Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. I have not read the story itself but am familiar enough with Russian literature of this style to understand that the anguish would be painted in broad strokes and the ending would not be joyful.
The characters are archetypes: the brutish father, the long-suffering mother and the children struggling to define their own personalities in such an oppressive atmosphere. This is not subtle naval-gazing, the characters lay their souls bare on the page while hiding so many feelings from one another.
The pleasure of reading comes from the descriptions of everyday life, the interactions between the brothers, the development of secondary characters and the descriptions of all the delicious food. (That made me so hungry). We come to sympathize with the brothers – so flawed but still caring for one another, trying to do their best.
In fact I became so wrapped up in the details of Haven’s Chinese community I was 40% in before I remembered there was supposed to be a murder.
And rather than the murder the trial is the crisis-moment, the point at which the characters have to confront what they want from life, contend with the self-righteous racism of their non-immigrant neighbours and come to terms with the malignant presence hiding in their midst.
At first the ending made me so angry and then it made me sad.
Recommended for readers who enjoy family sagas.
4.5 stars
The plotline is based on Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. I have not read the story itself but am familiar enough with Russian literature of this style to understand that the anguish would be painted in broad strokes and the ending would not be joyful.
The characters are archetypes: the brutish father, the long-suffering mother and the children struggling to define their own personalities in such an oppressive atmosphere. This is not subtle naval-gazing, the characters lay their souls bare on the page while hiding so many feelings from one another.
The pleasure of reading comes from the descriptions of everyday life, the interactions between the brothers, the development of secondary characters and the descriptions of all the delicious food. (That made me so hungry). We come to sympathize with the brothers – so flawed but still caring for one another, trying to do their best.
In fact I became so wrapped up in the details of Haven’s Chinese community I was 40% in before I remembered there was supposed to be a murder.
And rather than the murder the trial is the crisis-moment, the point at which the characters have to confront what they want from life, contend with the self-righteous racism of their non-immigrant neighbours and come to terms with the malignant presence hiding in their midst.
At first the ending made me so angry and then it made me sad.
Recommended for readers who enjoy family sagas.
4.5 stars
February 22, 2022
This is a deftly plotted, finely written, reworking of the apparently timeless The Brothers Karamazov. The differences, especially with the ending, are what make Chang’s rendering of our time.
It doesn’t surpass The Brothers K as a favorite retelling of a classic for me, but I still found it satisfying. As I said with the David James Duncan novel, knowing the Dostoevsky isn’t necessary. While it’s fun to note the parallels, not knowing them doesn’t take anything away from Chang’s story.
This February book of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club is another I wouldn’t have read otherwise and I’m glad it came my way.
It doesn’t surpass The Brothers K as a favorite retelling of a classic for me, but I still found it satisfying. As I said with the David James Duncan novel, knowing the Dostoevsky isn’t necessary. While it’s fun to note the parallels, not knowing them doesn’t take anything away from Chang’s story.
This February book of The Nervous Breakdown Book Club is another I wouldn’t have read otherwise and I’m glad it came my way.
February 24, 2022
Reimagining a classic novel is a risky business. Some such as “Gorsky” by Vesna Goldsworthy and “The Promise” by Damon Galgut have successfully borrowed plot lines from classics (“The Great Gatsby” and “Howard's End” respectively) and transposed them to an entirely new setting and context. However, there is a danger that using the scaffolding of a pre-existing plot might inhibit a new story. For instance, I felt Craig's novel “The Golden Rule” needlessly forced in some elements of classic tales in a way which lessened the impact of the otherwise compelling characters and storyline.
In “The Family Chao” Lan Samantha Chang gives a modern-day retelling of “The Brothers Karamazov” to relate the story of a family with a domineering patriarch and three very different Chinese-American sons. For decades the Fine Chao restaurant has been a fixture of the community, but disharmony is brewing behind closed doors. The youngest boy James returns to his family's home in Wisconsin for Christmas to discover a lot of infighting. Though his eldest brother Dagou organizes a lavish feast and celebration at the family restaurant things don't go as planned. An explosive argument leads to Leo 'Big' Chao being discovered dead in the meat freezer the next morning. Was this an accident or did something more sinister lead to his demise?
Read my full review of The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang at LonesomeReader
In “The Family Chao” Lan Samantha Chang gives a modern-day retelling of “The Brothers Karamazov” to relate the story of a family with a domineering patriarch and three very different Chinese-American sons. For decades the Fine Chao restaurant has been a fixture of the community, but disharmony is brewing behind closed doors. The youngest boy James returns to his family's home in Wisconsin for Christmas to discover a lot of infighting. Though his eldest brother Dagou organizes a lavish feast and celebration at the family restaurant things don't go as planned. An explosive argument leads to Leo 'Big' Chao being discovered dead in the meat freezer the next morning. Was this an accident or did something more sinister lead to his demise?
Read my full review of The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang at LonesomeReader
January 2, 2022
QUICK TAKE: I loved this multigenerational family story that felt reminiscent of Succession in a Chinese restaurant in...Wisconsin. Each character has their own well-written and grounded story, and the mystery surrounding who killed the patriarch gives the back half of the book an interesting, suspenseful hook (and there's some fun playing around with narrative devices). For sure one of my favorites of the year!
February 8, 2022
I think more has been revealed about the plot than should have been both in the description and in other reviews, so I won't repeat anything about the story. What pulled me in were the introspective accounts of the three sons of a family that has successfully attained the American dream for several of its sons, despite the boorish father and the sainted mother. As it is pointed out elsewhere, this is a reimagining of The Brothers Karamazov, making me want to read that book and test the validity of that claim. Well read by the narrator, it made me want to have some Chinese food.
February 26, 2022
The February pick of the Nervous Breakdown Book Club. I might have read it anyway just for the cover! It is the story of a Chinese family living in small-town Wisconsin. Naturally they have a family restaurant and many of the scenes take place there. A tyrannical father, an overworked mother who has moved to a Buddhist sanctuary and three sons who are struggling with their parents and their own identities.
The author based the book on her infatuation with Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, placing that family drama in an American immigrant story of striving for the illusive American Dream. I have not read The Brothers K yet, though now I want to. I found The Family Chao a moving tale and recognized the philosophical and psychological trademarks of Dostoevsky. Also appreciated the humor she added.
The author based the book on her infatuation with Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, placing that family drama in an American immigrant story of striving for the illusive American Dream. I have not read The Brothers K yet, though now I want to. I found The Family Chao a moving tale and recognized the philosophical and psychological trademarks of Dostoevsky. Also appreciated the humor she added.
January 8, 2022
Probably more of a 3.5 but I’m not in the mood tor round it up.
I’m very impulsive when it comes to books and can’t always stop myself from going on a netgalley requesting spree. But that’s how I ended up with this book which is a mix of genres, most of which I don’t read often and probably can’t appreciate even if written well.
First things first, I didn’t even realize this was a retelling of The Brothers Karamazov but I can’t comment on that part because I have no clue about the source material. Other than that, this book is a mix of litfic, thriller and family drama. The writing was engaging enough because I really didn’t put it down much once I started. But it was also pretty slow paced for most of the book and I had many moments of frustration - both at what wasn’t happening and the characters’ actions. I do have to commend the author for capturing a dysfunctional Asian American household with such clarity - the disparity between expectations of the parents and the ideas of the children, navigating the otherness of living in a majority white American small town, the bullying, the fetishizing, the identity crisis, cheating, greed, mental health issues, abandonment - the author touches on many aspects as the story goes by and most of it felt authentic, not just surface level. But that’s where I think whatever I liked about the book ended. There was quite a bit of emphasis on the sexual capabilities and desires of the men of the Chao family and whether it was the writing, or just my gradual understanding of my own asexuality, I felt very uncomfortable reading those parts of the story.
I also just couldn’t like the characters. I agree that characters don’t have to be likeable for a reader to enjoy a book, but maybe I’m not that objective of a reader. Firstly, the patriarch of the Chao family, Leo is a greedy cheater of a husband and an abusive father and I hated him a lot. His wife Winnie is a typical Asian wife and mom who dedicates her life to her husband, children and their work, despite all the issues - I sympathized with her predicament but it also reminded me too much of real life which I wasn’t ready for. Their three sons Dagou, Ming and James are products of their upbringing and environment, not always sure of what is it they want and how to move forward with their lives outside of their father’s sphere of influence. Brenda was someone I was apprehensive about but I loved her character arc. Katherine was very loyal and maybe too clingy and I didn’t understand her need to be close to Dagou and the family. There were quite a few other side characters who were small but noticeable presences and I found them all together to be a fascinating and diverse community.
Overall, I think this was an engaging, if slow paced read that you might like if you are in the right mood for it. The mystery doesn’t start until more than halfway through though, so if you are looking for an out and out thriller, this isn’t it. But I liked how the author kept us from guessing the true culprit until she revealed it herself and it was quite a revelation. However, it was a decent family drama which shows the unexpected dark side of immigrant family dynamics and if that’s your jam, so pick this up. But despite it all, this book just wasn’t for me. Maybe I should reaffirm my commitment to not reading contemporaries so that I don’t judge them unfairly due to my personal hang ups.
I’m very impulsive when it comes to books and can’t always stop myself from going on a netgalley requesting spree. But that’s how I ended up with this book which is a mix of genres, most of which I don’t read often and probably can’t appreciate even if written well.
First things first, I didn’t even realize this was a retelling of The Brothers Karamazov but I can’t comment on that part because I have no clue about the source material. Other than that, this book is a mix of litfic, thriller and family drama. The writing was engaging enough because I really didn’t put it down much once I started. But it was also pretty slow paced for most of the book and I had many moments of frustration - both at what wasn’t happening and the characters’ actions. I do have to commend the author for capturing a dysfunctional Asian American household with such clarity - the disparity between expectations of the parents and the ideas of the children, navigating the otherness of living in a majority white American small town, the bullying, the fetishizing, the identity crisis, cheating, greed, mental health issues, abandonment - the author touches on many aspects as the story goes by and most of it felt authentic, not just surface level. But that’s where I think whatever I liked about the book ended. There was quite a bit of emphasis on the sexual capabilities and desires of the men of the Chao family and whether it was the writing, or just my gradual understanding of my own asexuality, I felt very uncomfortable reading those parts of the story.
I also just couldn’t like the characters. I agree that characters don’t have to be likeable for a reader to enjoy a book, but maybe I’m not that objective of a reader. Firstly, the patriarch of the Chao family, Leo is a greedy cheater of a husband and an abusive father and I hated him a lot. His wife Winnie is a typical Asian wife and mom who dedicates her life to her husband, children and their work, despite all the issues - I sympathized with her predicament but it also reminded me too much of real life which I wasn’t ready for. Their three sons Dagou, Ming and James are products of their upbringing and environment, not always sure of what is it they want and how to move forward with their lives outside of their father’s sphere of influence. Brenda was someone I was apprehensive about but I loved her character arc. Katherine was very loyal and maybe too clingy and I didn’t understand her need to be close to Dagou and the family. There were quite a few other side characters who were small but noticeable presences and I found them all together to be a fascinating and diverse community.
Overall, I think this was an engaging, if slow paced read that you might like if you are in the right mood for it. The mystery doesn’t start until more than halfway through though, so if you are looking for an out and out thriller, this isn’t it. But I liked how the author kept us from guessing the true culprit until she revealed it herself and it was quite a revelation. However, it was a decent family drama which shows the unexpected dark side of immigrant family dynamics and if that’s your jam, so pick this up. But despite it all, this book just wasn’t for me. Maybe I should reaffirm my commitment to not reading contemporaries so that I don’t judge them unfairly due to my personal hang ups.
February 1, 2022
This book follows the story line of three brothers who are the children of immigrant parents and their relationships with their father, the family restaurant, American culture, their own culture, one another, their mother, and even the family dog. A theme of racism runs barely beneath the surface. It is not the actual cause of the drama in the book, but it highlights the emotional nature of each brother in the way they react when confronted with it. One runs, one fights, the last hides.
I enjoyed the relationships between the brothers and the way the author highlighted their independent personalities and their differences through the lens of their culture. Some of the children could speak the language fluently while the youngest did not understand it., The benefits culturally bestowed upon the oldest child created a selfish, self-centered man, while leaving the high-achieving middle child ignored and jealous. These relationships all fed off one another and eventually led to the the final drama with the father.
I truly enjoyed the book, especially the way the author tied the very starting scene to the trial at the end. For most of the book, I didn't realize how important that one suitcase would later become and it has me wishing I would have kept closer tabs on it throughout the book. The way the author had the prosecutor piecing the evidence together was a creative way to click all the little puzzle pieces together to see the entire picture. It is definitely worth a read.
I enjoyed the relationships between the brothers and the way the author highlighted their independent personalities and their differences through the lens of their culture. Some of the children could speak the language fluently while the youngest did not understand it., The benefits culturally bestowed upon the oldest child created a selfish, self-centered man, while leaving the high-achieving middle child ignored and jealous. These relationships all fed off one another and eventually led to the the final drama with the father.
I truly enjoyed the book, especially the way the author tied the very starting scene to the trial at the end. For most of the book, I didn't realize how important that one suitcase would later become and it has me wishing I would have kept closer tabs on it throughout the book. The way the author had the prosecutor piecing the evidence together was a creative way to click all the little puzzle pieces together to see the entire picture. It is definitely worth a read.
November 2, 2022
Lan Samantha Chang’s The Family Chao is a modern-day Brothers Karamazov, a gorgeous and gripping literary mystery that leads the reader into a hall of mirrors, reflecting with its kaleidoscopic vision themes like family, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American Dream. Devastating and searing, laugh-out-loud funny and profound, Chang’s latest novel is infused with beautiful, evocative writing that will quicken your heart and mind. A masterpiece.
August 13, 2022
Closer to 2.5/5. I liked the courtroom scenes in the 2nd part but the 1st part was a little rough and then the book skips over the main event to a few months after it happened, which disconnected me from the story. More telling instead of showing and the ending was a little ambiguous.
April 11, 2022
'The Family Chao' by Lan Samantha Chang is a dramedy about a Chinese family. Leo Chao immigrated from China and opened a Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin. Leo and Winnie, who met in America, have three sons, Dagou, Ming and James. It is a popular restaurant, called Fine Chao. Winnie appears happy. The three boys seem happy. Dagou, a musician, returned home six years ago from New York to take care of Winnie when she sickened from pneumonia. He moved into the apartment over the restaurant. When she recovered, Dagou stayed and now works for Leo, helping him run the restaurant. Ming, after graduation from university, is making his way in the world of corporate finance in New York. James is a pre-med student. It's Christmas, so the two boys are coming home for the party their brother is putting together and because their mother Winnie asked them all to be there this year.
Happy happy, joy joy, right? Well, no.
Daguo hates his father. Leo is a rude crude tyrannical bastard who insults everyone. He keeps Dagou on a tight leash, refusing him the autonomy he craves.
Ming hates his Chinese heritage. He hates himself. He wishes he had been White. This is the first Christmas he has been home because he swore he'd never come back unless he had to. He has erased everything about himself that is Chinese as much as he can. But he has returned because of Winnie's plea.
James wants to heal everybody. He is the youngest and he hopes his father will be more reasonable, that Daguo will get his wish of becoming partner in the restaurant, and that Ming will enjoy being with them all.
No. Not happening.
Winnie has left Leo. She has become a Buddhist nun at the Spiritual House. Dagou has ended his relationship with Katherine Corcoran, whom he promised to marry, and is seeing Brenda Wozniak. He is behaving in a manic manner. Katherine can't let him go and refuses to return his ring. She continues to drop in the restaurant. Ming is disgusted by them all and he is doing his best to avoid them as much as he can. James tried to save an old man at the train station, but the man died. It shook him up! Maybe being a doctor is beyond his capabilities?
I copied the book blurb as it is accurate:
"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 “a gorgeous and gripping literary mystery” that explores “family, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American Dream” (Jean Kwok).
The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurant’s 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 family’s secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last.
Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found dead—presumed murdered—and his sons find they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurant’s reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightens—and the family dog meets an unexpected fate—Dagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their father’s 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."
The murder, if that is what it was, doesn't happen until halfway into the book. The trial happens near the end of the novel. Several secrets kept by Leo become known to all, changing the intended trajectory of the brothers' lives.
I'm not sure I liked this novel, still processing it, but it is well-written. I suspect it will be a really good ensemble movie some day. The family is an untidy mess, and that is mostly what propels the action. The maybe-murder causes a lot of uncertainty, but the characters, who have been knocking into each other like billiard balls throughout the novel, begin to pull together after the trial. It is more of a domestic drama than a murder mystery. The author brings readers into each of the main characters' heads, as the third-person narration changes in the chapters.
One of my problems with the book is to me some of these people do not respond exactly what I think they would have or should have done. But the family is living in an exaggerated soap opera revolving around a lot of different forms of guilt (deserved and not deserved), so what do I know? I also felt claustrophobic, brought on by the characters helplessness and their inability to, idk, be thoughtfully quiet? Idk. 'The Family Chao' is a literary novel written by a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. Chang said in an interview the family is somewhat like her own in her depiction of a family living in noise and confusion, but not at all alike with the character of the horrible father making everyone so wretched and wrecked. Of course, some of the fictional scenes of middle-school bullies terrorizing the Chinese kids wasn't so fictional, and I suppose close-knit families are all up in every family member's business, especially in a small town. I was a big-city kid in a small family which wasn't close, so, the claustrophobia I experienced, I suppose, limited my ability into truly grokking the book. Maybe that is a recommendation of sorts, that the author nailed it? I'm probably unable to properly assess this novel, so at least three stars for me, anyway. FYI, the professional critics loved it.
Happy happy, joy joy, right? Well, no.
Daguo hates his father. Leo is a rude crude tyrannical bastard who insults everyone. He keeps Dagou on a tight leash, refusing him the autonomy he craves.
Ming hates his Chinese heritage. He hates himself. He wishes he had been White. This is the first Christmas he has been home because he swore he'd never come back unless he had to. He has erased everything about himself that is Chinese as much as he can. But he has returned because of Winnie's plea.
James wants to heal everybody. He is the youngest and he hopes his father will be more reasonable, that Daguo will get his wish of becoming partner in the restaurant, and that Ming will enjoy being with them all.
No. Not happening.
Winnie has left Leo. She has become a Buddhist nun at the Spiritual House. Dagou has ended his relationship with Katherine Corcoran, whom he promised to marry, and is seeing Brenda Wozniak. He is behaving in a manic manner. Katherine can't let him go and refuses to return his ring. She continues to drop in the restaurant. Ming is disgusted by them all and he is doing his best to avoid them as much as he can. James tried to save an old man at the train station, but the man died. It shook him up! Maybe being a doctor is beyond his capabilities?
I copied the book blurb as it is accurate:
"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 “a gorgeous and gripping literary mystery” that explores “family, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American Dream” (Jean Kwok).
The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurant’s 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 family’s secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last.
Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found dead—presumed murdered—and his sons find they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurant’s reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightens—and the family dog meets an unexpected fate—Dagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their father’s 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."
The murder, if that is what it was, doesn't happen until halfway into the book. The trial happens near the end of the novel. Several secrets kept by Leo become known to all, changing the intended trajectory of the brothers' lives.
I'm not sure I liked this novel, still processing it, but it is well-written. I suspect it will be a really good ensemble movie some day. The family is an untidy mess, and that is mostly what propels the action. The maybe-murder causes a lot of uncertainty, but the characters, who have been knocking into each other like billiard balls throughout the novel, begin to pull together after the trial. It is more of a domestic drama than a murder mystery. The author brings readers into each of the main characters' heads, as the third-person narration changes in the chapters.
One of my problems with the book is to me some of these people do not respond exactly what I think they would have or should have done. But the family is living in an exaggerated soap opera revolving around a lot of different forms of guilt (deserved and not deserved), so what do I know? I also felt claustrophobic, brought on by the characters helplessness and their inability to, idk, be thoughtfully quiet? Idk. 'The Family Chao' is a literary novel written by a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. Chang said in an interview the family is somewhat like her own in her depiction of a family living in noise and confusion, but not at all alike with the character of the horrible father making everyone so wretched and wrecked. Of course, some of the fictional scenes of middle-school bullies terrorizing the Chinese kids wasn't so fictional, and I suppose close-knit families are all up in every family member's business, especially in a small town. I was a big-city kid in a small family which wasn't close, so, the claustrophobia I experienced, I suppose, limited my ability into truly grokking the book. Maybe that is a recommendation of sorts, that the author nailed it? I'm probably unable to properly assess this novel, so at least three stars for me, anyway. FYI, the professional critics loved it.
March 22, 2022
3.5 A solid, very well-written look at the strained and complex dynamics of family, class, culture, gender, identity, and race in the United States. As has been pointed out many times, the book takes as its inspiration "The Brothers Karamazov" (Chang doesn't disguise the association: she has a character reading a blog with the title “The Curious Case of ‘The Brothers Karamahjong”), but the book goes in a very different, distinctly 21st century America direction. There's the patricide, of course -- a well-deserved one, in fact, given how despicable the dad is (he has the look of a beast on its hind legs: hairy, primitive, his long arms hanging almost to his knees. It isn’t just the dark, unshaven hair sprouting in patches on his cheeks. There is something hungry yet remote in his close-set eyes. Everyone can see it. Some of them shrink back and turn away. Ming knows this eerie quality well. It has been there in his father for as long as he can remember.) -- and a set of brothers with differing personalities.
More interesting than the who-done-it is Chang's probing look at the psychology of her characters. This is a severely dysfunctional family (particularly bullying, philandering, abusive dad); then too, there's the internal conflict generated by traditional values of family hierarchy (obey the father, obey the elder sibling), and American attitudes about race (one of the characters brings up a popular children's book: “Do you remember that racist children’s book, the book about the Chinese brothers?” The words echo in James’s mind, but only faintly. “ ‘Once upon a time,’ ” Fang intones, singsonging, “ ‘there were five Chinese brothers and they all looked exactly alike.’ ” and what Success means. All these conflicts merge to generate self-loathing and self-doubt (Self-hatred is his meat and drink, self-hatred is the fuel of his emotional life, his life in the world, his soon-to-be adult life!... He manages to see above the wall of this disadvantage. Because self-hatred is as galvanizing as ambition..
Add to all this the powerful longing we all feel to be part of something -- a family, a culture (one of the main characters is a young woman, an intelligent, beautiful lawyer who was born in China but raised by a White couple in the US, and has very complicated feelings about who she is, where she belongs, what she is part of: Because she was adopted by well-meaning white people and raised apart from her kind, she’s stuck on us. She’s fetishized us. She wants to be us, for God’s sake, and what she should really do is accept who she is: a highly intelligent, beautiful, very lucky, well-brought-up young woman who just happens to look like us.) -- the ways in which being an Outsider can weigh heavily on individual, family, and community dynamics. “There are only certain times in life when emergence is possible. The life strategy for children of immigrants, starting with nothing, is to use that time to build social, educational, and financial capital on which to ride out the rest of their lives.
In sum, eminently readable, sprinkled with humor, family drama and tender moments, insightful, well-crafted characters, and a serviceable mystery.
More interesting than the who-done-it is Chang's probing look at the psychology of her characters. This is a severely dysfunctional family (particularly bullying, philandering, abusive dad); then too, there's the internal conflict generated by traditional values of family hierarchy (obey the father, obey the elder sibling), and American attitudes about race (one of the characters brings up a popular children's book: “Do you remember that racist children’s book, the book about the Chinese brothers?” The words echo in James’s mind, but only faintly. “ ‘Once upon a time,’ ” Fang intones, singsonging, “ ‘there were five Chinese brothers and they all looked exactly alike.’ ” and what Success means. All these conflicts merge to generate self-loathing and self-doubt (Self-hatred is his meat and drink, self-hatred is the fuel of his emotional life, his life in the world, his soon-to-be adult life!... He manages to see above the wall of this disadvantage. Because self-hatred is as galvanizing as ambition..
Add to all this the powerful longing we all feel to be part of something -- a family, a culture (one of the main characters is a young woman, an intelligent, beautiful lawyer who was born in China but raised by a White couple in the US, and has very complicated feelings about who she is, where she belongs, what she is part of: Because she was adopted by well-meaning white people and raised apart from her kind, she’s stuck on us. She’s fetishized us. She wants to be us, for God’s sake, and what she should really do is accept who she is: a highly intelligent, beautiful, very lucky, well-brought-up young woman who just happens to look like us.) -- the ways in which being an Outsider can weigh heavily on individual, family, and community dynamics. “There are only certain times in life when emergence is possible. The life strategy for children of immigrants, starting with nothing, is to use that time to build social, educational, and financial capital on which to ride out the rest of their lives.
In sum, eminently readable, sprinkled with humor, family drama and tender moments, insightful, well-crafted characters, and a serviceable mystery.
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February 26, 2022This book centers on The Chao Family who owns a popular Chinese food restaurant. Big Leo and his wife Winnie have three sons - Dagou, Ming, and James. Like all families, there is lots of drama amongst the family members and when Big Leo is found dead, the brothers become the prime suspects and their family secrets are exposed.
This book is being portrayed as a modern day Brothers Karamazov. I read the book in high school and while I don’t remember the story well, I remember loving it. I wanted to love The Family Chao, but it was a struggle for me. Character driven novels are always hit or miss with me and this one just didn’t grab me. There is so much going on, it just didn’t seem to all come together. Like I said, I was really looking forward to this one and wanted to love it, but ultimately it just wasn’t for me. But, that doesn’t mean it won’t be for you, so if you’re curious give it a try! Not every book is going to work for every person - that’s life.
This book is being portrayed as a modern day Brothers Karamazov. I read the book in high school and while I don’t remember the story well, I remember loving it. I wanted to love The Family Chao, but it was a struggle for me. Character driven novels are always hit or miss with me and this one just didn’t grab me. There is so much going on, it just didn’t seem to all come together. Like I said, I was really looking forward to this one and wanted to love it, but ultimately it just wasn’t for me. But, that doesn’t mean it won’t be for you, so if you’re curious give it a try! Not every book is going to work for every person - that’s life.
March 4, 2022
A very ambitious retelling of Brothers Karamazov..
A story of three brothers and their Chinese parents all bound to the family restaurant. Complex characters and a good mystery set in a midwestern town in the U.S.
A story of three brothers and their Chinese parents all bound to the family restaurant. Complex characters and a good mystery set in a midwestern town in the U.S.
April 30, 2022
The story revolves around the Chao family and their restaurant, Fine Chao. Leo and Winnie Chao are Chinese immigrants who operate the Fine Chao Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin. They have three kids, William 'Dagou,' Ming, and James, who are all attractive but extremely distinct in personality. Leo Chao is a dominating and vicious guy who never misses an opportunity to humiliate his wife and sons, as well as engage in any amount of dishonesty and deception. He is despised even by the immigrant community.
For thirty-five years, the citizens of Haven have dined and enjoyed the Americanized Chinese cuisine served at the Fine Chao, yet the three boys are constantly regarded as outsiders, with finger-pointing and name-calling, on top of dealing with their father's constant tortures. Dagou, the eldest son, attempted and failed to pursue a career in music and has returned to the restaurant where he started working when his mother fell ill. Ming wants to have as little connection to the town, family, and even his identity as possible, establishing a high-flying profession for himself in New York, while the youngest son James is in college and aspires to be a doctor. Winnie separated from her husband Leo after their son James graduated from high school and became a Buddhist nun and now living a spiritual life.
During Christmas, the brothers join their father and family dog Alf, just before the family hosts their traditional Christmas dinner at their restaurant. A heated and hostile family reunion ensues, with pent-up resentments, secrets, and dishonesty coming to the surface of an already shattered, convoluted, and dysfunctional family dynamic. However, the next morning, Leo Chao's dead body is discovered confined in the restaurant's freezer area. Dagou, whose anger and threats against his father for a promised partnership in the family restaurant were well known by everyone, is arrested and prosecuted.
The restaurant, as well as family members, are in the limelight as a result of the suspected murder. The family must address questions asked not just among themselves, but also by their own community of friends and fellow immigrants, as well as in the eyes of the law, as they are the subject of widespread speculations, open mistrust, and public scrutiny. As we progress through the trial and the family's efforts to clear Dagou's reputation, more secrets are uncovered, while the true identity of the killer remains a mystery. The tale progressively shifts from the evolution of the three brothers to a murder mystery and a courtroom drama. However, the purpose of this story is not to thrill, but rather to examine the psyche of the main characters and the consequences of their acts.
The story of the Chao family isn't just another murder mystery or a look at one particular family's history. Amazingly, this tale is home to a seemingly infinite number of themes and ideas. We have the characters dressed in garbs of confusion about other characters and on the verge of self-assessment and self-denial. And as the narrative progresses, there are strange thoughts reverberating in the heads of the characters. It's as though Lan Samantha Chang's characters are being tortured by their own hopeless states, and no one escapes this anguish, no one! An important theme of the work is on the idea of self-identity and how suppressed or unspoken desires of one character can have an impact on another's actions.
This great work of literature has a significant amount of depth. This isn't just pretty prose; the ideas presented here are profound, philosophical, and significant. Astonishingly, author Chang has a remarkable ability to sense people's feelings, and she meticulously explains why they feel and act the way they do in her tale. The Family Chao is a novel that is both grand and profound, full of grief but also gorgeous, philosophical, mystical, terrifying, beautiful, and not without its comic moments.
For thirty-five years, the citizens of Haven have dined and enjoyed the Americanized Chinese cuisine served at the Fine Chao, yet the three boys are constantly regarded as outsiders, with finger-pointing and name-calling, on top of dealing with their father's constant tortures. Dagou, the eldest son, attempted and failed to pursue a career in music and has returned to the restaurant where he started working when his mother fell ill. Ming wants to have as little connection to the town, family, and even his identity as possible, establishing a high-flying profession for himself in New York, while the youngest son James is in college and aspires to be a doctor. Winnie separated from her husband Leo after their son James graduated from high school and became a Buddhist nun and now living a spiritual life.
During Christmas, the brothers join their father and family dog Alf, just before the family hosts their traditional Christmas dinner at their restaurant. A heated and hostile family reunion ensues, with pent-up resentments, secrets, and dishonesty coming to the surface of an already shattered, convoluted, and dysfunctional family dynamic. However, the next morning, Leo Chao's dead body is discovered confined in the restaurant's freezer area. Dagou, whose anger and threats against his father for a promised partnership in the family restaurant were well known by everyone, is arrested and prosecuted.
The restaurant, as well as family members, are in the limelight as a result of the suspected murder. The family must address questions asked not just among themselves, but also by their own community of friends and fellow immigrants, as well as in the eyes of the law, as they are the subject of widespread speculations, open mistrust, and public scrutiny. As we progress through the trial and the family's efforts to clear Dagou's reputation, more secrets are uncovered, while the true identity of the killer remains a mystery. The tale progressively shifts from the evolution of the three brothers to a murder mystery and a courtroom drama. However, the purpose of this story is not to thrill, but rather to examine the psyche of the main characters and the consequences of their acts.
The story of the Chao family isn't just another murder mystery or a look at one particular family's history. Amazingly, this tale is home to a seemingly infinite number of themes and ideas. We have the characters dressed in garbs of confusion about other characters and on the verge of self-assessment and self-denial. And as the narrative progresses, there are strange thoughts reverberating in the heads of the characters. It's as though Lan Samantha Chang's characters are being tortured by their own hopeless states, and no one escapes this anguish, no one! An important theme of the work is on the idea of self-identity and how suppressed or unspoken desires of one character can have an impact on another's actions.
This great work of literature has a significant amount of depth. This isn't just pretty prose; the ideas presented here are profound, philosophical, and significant. Astonishingly, author Chang has a remarkable ability to sense people's feelings, and she meticulously explains why they feel and act the way they do in her tale. The Family Chao is a novel that is both grand and profound, full of grief but also gorgeous, philosophical, mystical, terrifying, beautiful, and not without its comic moments.
January 24, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
I love the premise of this book. It promises a meeting of genre and literary fiction with an Asian American heart. But what I got ultimately is a retelling of The Brothers Karamazov that feels unjustified and unfulfilled. What’s the purpose of writing an almost beat-for-beat remake of a 19th-century Russian novel? How does it contribute to Asian American art? Further our stories?
The beginning is wonderful. Lan Samantha Chang clearly considers writing a craft. Her sentences are sharp and varied. Starting the novel with the youngest son, James, coming home from his first college term in the city to his midwestern hometown feels like an appropriate bildungsroman-esque point at which to explore evolving notions of identity and family.
I also appreciate the fact that Chinese words in this story aren’t italicized. While a white writer might have italicized “jia li jiao” to denote an othering, here it blends in with the neighboring roman text—there’s no need to set off the typeface of words that have been present your entire life.
There are no likable characters, and I find that a jarring problem for a novel exploring an Asian family’s immigration to and assimilation in the US. The father in particular, Leo Chao, has not a single redeeming quality. In an early meeting, Leo rants at his youngest son seemingly out of nowhere:
“All you ABCs! You think since you’re not here first, since you have different eyes and dicks, you’re not good enough for fucking around. You got it backwards. We came to America to colonize the place for ourselves. That means spreading seed. Equal opportunity for fucking. You know what’s the biggest disappointment of my life? Seeing my oldest son pussy-whipped by one white woman.”
Leo is such a caricature that I was constantly taken out of the story and questioning: What Asian dad is actually like this? The crassness is alienating and unfamiliar. It almost reads like dialogue meant for white readers.
The characterization of Ming, the second son, is disappointing in other ways. Ming openly admits to self-hatred, which manifests in never eating Chinese food and refusing to date Asian women. Both facts are ludicrous and again have me asking: What Asian man manifests hate in this way? Is this a commentary on MRAsians? The story—fortunately—gradually makes clear that Ming is in love with an Asian woman, and there are beautiful moments between the two, but the end result isn’t enough to undo the ridiculous premise.
Not every narrative about Asian families needs to be heartwarming and affirmative, nor should they be. Immigrant families are messy and multifaceted. But the Chao family offers few insights. The death of the Chao patriarch has me—and apparently his family—feeling little more than “good riddance.”
I love the premise of this book. It promises a meeting of genre and literary fiction with an Asian American heart. But what I got ultimately is a retelling of The Brothers Karamazov that feels unjustified and unfulfilled. What’s the purpose of writing an almost beat-for-beat remake of a 19th-century Russian novel? How does it contribute to Asian American art? Further our stories?
The beginning is wonderful. Lan Samantha Chang clearly considers writing a craft. Her sentences are sharp and varied. Starting the novel with the youngest son, James, coming home from his first college term in the city to his midwestern hometown feels like an appropriate bildungsroman-esque point at which to explore evolving notions of identity and family.
I also appreciate the fact that Chinese words in this story aren’t italicized. While a white writer might have italicized “jia li jiao” to denote an othering, here it blends in with the neighboring roman text—there’s no need to set off the typeface of words that have been present your entire life.
There are no likable characters, and I find that a jarring problem for a novel exploring an Asian family’s immigration to and assimilation in the US. The father in particular, Leo Chao, has not a single redeeming quality. In an early meeting, Leo rants at his youngest son seemingly out of nowhere:
“All you ABCs! You think since you’re not here first, since you have different eyes and dicks, you’re not good enough for fucking around. You got it backwards. We came to America to colonize the place for ourselves. That means spreading seed. Equal opportunity for fucking. You know what’s the biggest disappointment of my life? Seeing my oldest son pussy-whipped by one white woman.”
Leo is such a caricature that I was constantly taken out of the story and questioning: What Asian dad is actually like this? The crassness is alienating and unfamiliar. It almost reads like dialogue meant for white readers.
The characterization of Ming, the second son, is disappointing in other ways. Ming openly admits to self-hatred, which manifests in never eating Chinese food and refusing to date Asian women. Both facts are ludicrous and again have me asking: What Asian man manifests hate in this way? Is this a commentary on MRAsians? The story—fortunately—gradually makes clear that Ming is in love with an Asian woman, and there are beautiful moments between the two, but the end result isn’t enough to undo the ridiculous premise.
Not every narrative about Asian families needs to be heartwarming and affirmative, nor should they be. Immigrant families are messy and multifaceted. But the Chao family offers few insights. The death of the Chao patriarch has me—and apparently his family—feeling little more than “good riddance.”
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