Lambent and poignant ... Chin-Tanner portrays the soul-withering routines of institutionalization and the bonding of the damned with elegiac strokes ... In the last third, the narrative becomes somewhat schematic and too concerned with setting up a conclusion through the major events at home in the Bronx ... The more gripping and tenderly executed drama, however, remains internal for Victor.
Chin-Tanner’s exacting details render little-known medical history, deftly interwoven with the Chinese American experience, from paper sons to debilitating racism to bifurcated identity, to create a satisfying, polyphonic narrative about the intricate relationships within families by birth and circumstance.
Poignant if somewhat mechanical ... Though the plotlines feel a bit rote, Chin-Tanner shines in her depictions of loyalty and familial obligation, Ruth’s in particular. Though clunky at times, the multicultural elements add an appealing layer to this drama.
