For years, the residents of Lake Haven, Wisconsin ignored the whispered troubles about the Chao family, if only to keep eating at the best restaurant in town.
But when tyrannical patriarch Leo 'Big' Chao is found frozen to death in the family's meat freezer, scandalous events force the community to turn its attention to the three Chao sons.
Dagou - presupposed heir to the business.
Ming - accomplished city lawyer, determined to sever ties with Haven's Asian community once and for all.
James - naive college student, who is only just learning of his family's past.
When the family's dog mysteriously disappears, and Dagou 'Dog Eater' Chao is held on trial for his father's murder, the Chaos' turbulent history spills into the public eye, and a small town looks on in disbelief. . .
About the Author
LAN SAMANTHA CHANG is the author of the award-winning Hunger and Inheritance, and All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost. Her work has been translated into nine languages and has been chosen twice for The Best American Short Stories. A recent Berlin Prize winner, she has received creative writing fellowships from Stanford University, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Samantha lives in Iowa City, where she is the director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Industry Reviews
'A drama of family conflicts and intrigues; an insightful comedy of the American immigrant experience, and of a small town's inner workings. The creation of characters through dialogue is worthy of a great playwright' - John Irving
'A gorgeous and gripping literary mystery... reflecting with its kaleidoscopic vision themes of family, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American Dream. Devastating and searing, laugh-out-loud funny and profound... infused with beautiful, evocative writing. A masterpiece' - Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of 'Girl in Translation'
'At once a brilliant reimagining of Dostoevsky and a wholly original and gripping story about the passions, rivalries and searing pressures that roil a singular immigrant family' - Jess Walter, author of 'The Cold Millions'
'Family drama, murder mystery, love story. . . With nuance and slyness, wit and empathy, Chang turns the desires and deceits of one unhappy family into a moving and compelling saga of that classic American illness: ambition' - Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of 'The Sympathizer'
'This is one of the finest and most ambitious novels about America I've read' - Yiyun Li, author of 'Must I Go'
