Real Americans

by Rachel Khong ★★★★☆

Real Americans, the latest offering from author Rachel Khong, follows three generations of a Chinese-American family, the Chens, as they chase the American dream. I always love generational novels and historical novels and this book—which is both—

didn't disappoint.

Rather than telling the story chronologically, the novel starts with the middle generation in New York City just before Y2K. Lily Chen is a first-generation American whose scientist parents fled the cultural revolution in China. Lily comes from a humble background and is interning in New York when she meets Matthew Maier, the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune. While these two come from different worlds, they continue to be drawn together, a connection that will result in lasting implications for both of them and their families.

From there we fast-forward to present times and shift to our focus to Seattle, where we meet Nick, Lily’s son. Nick is growing up in Seattle and has never met his father, at Lily's insistence. He resents Lily for this isolation and eventually has opportunities to fill in the gaps of his past, including all of the lasting implications foreshadowed in Lily's section of the novel.

Khong finally brings everything together with the story of May, Lily's mother, who grew up in China during the cultural revolution and eventually came to America where she has worked as a scientist. May has made decisions both in China and in her new homeland that have impacted the lives and identity of all three characters. It is through understanding her history that the pieces of the novel are finally woven together.

Khong drew on her own past and notes that all of the characters battle a sense of not belonging that she also experienced growing up as an Asian-American (she was born in Malaysia and was raised in Arizona and California). It asks the question of "What is a Real American?" while tackling issues of class, race and technology.

Admiring and investigating the research that historical fiction writers have undertaken done to accurately ground their novels is a weird passion of mine. The sources listed in the bibliography for Real Americans spanned pages and included one of my favorite generational memoirs, Wild Swans by Jung Chang, which was a clear five-star read for me. While Real Americans didn't quite live up to the magic of that novel, it kept me reading, imparted interesting historical context, and asked some thought provoking questions about the intersection of science and ethics, resulting in a solid four-star rating.