Set against the backdrop of developing modern China, this reversal of the east-to-west immigrant narrative is part coming-of-age tale, part family and social drama, as it follows two generations searching for belonging and opportunity in a rapidly changing world.
Rey Lescure avoids the trap of predictability as she connects the dots between Lu Fang’s past as a lowly worker and his present as a rich Shanghai landlord married to an American woman. Her writing reflects a gift for vivid setting and distinctive characters, both of which bring to life the heady, wildly optimistic era of mid-2000s China ... Rey Lescure proves herself to be a remarkably humane storyteller, focusing on the ties between her characters and the worlds they inhabit in order to ground an ambitious, multi-generational story of global upheaval in personal, poignant detail.
Rey Lescure takes both real and constructed binaries... and cleverly closes the gap between them, showing how belonging – within a family, country, history – can be messier and knottier. She writes about migration and expatriation, alienation and ambition, family and multiracial identity, h/History and destiny with attentiveness and assertiveness ... Rey Lescure’s prose is cinematic, compelling, perceptive and poignant.
Rey Lescure’s brilliant debut alternates between the lives of Lu Fang and Alva, placing their desires and evolving story lines in a vibrant social context ... With an assured hand, Rey Lescure illuminates how even someone who feels trapped and diminished can still make a life.
