Berkley
June 11,
2019
978-1984803252
Magical
Realism, Fiction
Ebook
Obtained
by Publisher
5
Hearts
Natalie
Tan returns to San Francisco after hearing about the death of her mother,
Miranda. For some unknown reason the
agoraphobic Miranda ventured out of her Chinatown apartment and killed in a
terrible accident. No one is able to
explain why after years of not living her home she suddenly left what she felt
the safety of her home. Natalie arrives
to put her mother to rest and finds that her mother has adopted an adorable kitty
named MeiMei. MeiMei quickly wends her
way into Natalie’s heart and eases some of the sadness surrounding her mother’s
death. Natalie quickly finds the
neighborhood she grew up in has had its problems. Stores and shops she knew either closed or
have been run down. The economy has not
been good to her block. As she sorts
through her mother’s belongings she finds her grandmother, Lao Lao’s, cook
book.
Lao Lao
ran a restaurant known throughout Chinatown. It’s residents flocked to enjoy
her special dishes. As Natalie’s life
long dream was to own her own restaurant she soon begins to consider reopening her
grandmother’s and again prepare those well liked dishes. While at first things seem to move along
smoothly, fate has something else in mind for Natalie and soon it seems all is
lost. Or is it?
What a
fantastic debut! The story starts off a
little bit like the original Amy Tan books but then it takes off into a
wonderful, unique in some ways direction.
I was originally drawn to the story because it takes place in San
Francisco and since it's "my city" I like to see how different authors
depict it.
Inside
a well told story, heart wrenching at times, humorous at others, she introduces
her readers to characters that are each individually drawn with stories of
their own. While I don't cook myself I
enjoyed the scenes where Natalie creates amazing dishes I wouldn't mind eating
myself. Easy to replicate recipes are
interspersed throughout the book.
As I
said, the story begins in one place—a young woman returning home to deal with
the sudden passing of her mother. As she
sets about putting her mother to rest she begins to learn things about her
family and herself. Natalie grows in
many ways throughout the story. I did
not see the conclusion coming at all but was delighted with it. I had to go back and read certain sections to
see the hints leading up to it and then re-read the ending because it was just
so good. I can’t wait to see what Lim’s
next story will bring.
This
is an objective review and not an endorsement
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