Real Americans focuses on three generations of an Asian American family. I enjoyed its structure, which was a little like three stories in one. The first section focuses on Lily, the daughter of two Chinese immigrants who fled Mao's China, and is in the mould of a "messy 20-something" novel with a strong but complicated live story through line. The second section focuses on her son Nick and is more a coming of age novel. The final section is devoted to the story of Mei, Lily's mother, and can be best described as historical fiction. It really brought several earlier storylines together and helped explain Lily's alienation from her mother and from Nick's father. Belonging, identity, fate, and destiny are key themes, but the way this novel explores them in terms of science and epigenetics and the ethics around those gives it a fresh and unique feel. It also explores complicated family dynamics impacted by immigration, racism, class, and wealth. The reasoning behind some of the actions of some of the characters remained a mystery to me though and I wished I had the power to force everyone into family therapy, but overall I'm glad I gave this book a go, particulalry since Khong's debut, Goodbye Vitamin, was not as successful for me as it was for other readers. 

I have had a book hangover for the last 24 hours since finishing this. It is such a beautifully written novel with three parts. One of Lily Chen based in NYC, one of Nick Chen based in Washington State, and a final portion with Nick and May. May made difficult decisions she had to live with for the rest of her life. Despite these three different storylines, Khong weaves them so well together. It's a must-read.

Real Americans will stick with me for a long time. It’s a multi-generational narrative that crafts a story through quite a span of time. Lived experiences for several family members are written in beautiful, and at times, heartbreaking detail. This is a true depiction about how environment, world events, and our personal choices while navigating the uncontrollable can have a trickle down effect for generations. 

 "Chinese is a language that exists in the present tense. In this way it’s unlike English…”

Format: Audio
Source: Penguin Random House Audio
Narrator(s): Louisa Zhu, Eric Yang, & Eunice Wong

**Read for #bnbookclub**

Themes:

Characters:
• Lily Chen: MC
You first meet her in her 20's, then as a single mom, and then finally as a middle-aged women working at a nursery home. Lily literally goes through life not knowing what she wants. She always feels the dissatisfaction she gives her mom, the inability to follow in her footsteps. She is raised in a very "American" lifestyle; not learning her parents' native language, not learning their customs, or how to make their food, etc. Eventually she has a falling out with her mother, her dad since being in a home. She finds solace in motherhood, but it's still not enough. It isn't until later in life that she finally feels happy with herself and the life she has.

• Nico “Nick” Chen: MC #2
Nick is Lily's only son. Lily raised him alone, and never really answering his questions in regards to his father, or other family for that matter. He grows up not feeling complete because of this. His friend, Timothy, is the one that pushes him to take one of those take-home DNA tests. When he gets his results, he's disappointed although not surprised. Later in the story he does find out who his dad is, who he meets behind his mom's back. He goes to Yale for college, having lied to his mom about his scholarships, and feeling like a sham. That's when he discovered his "power"(?) of stopping time. With that, he was able to get better grades, eventually landing a job with his dad, and then other companies relating to Biology. Years later, he finds his grandmother, no hard feeling towards her.

• Mai: MC #3
She's Lily's mother. She immigrated from China with her husband "Charles." She's a scientist, and gets a job at a some lab, who gets support from Otto Meyer. She studied/works in genetics & DNA manipulation practically, which eventually both her and Otto used their first borns for experiments. Lily find's out, which is when they become estranged. In her pov, she divulges in her past living in China, from her childhood to living under Mao's Cultural Revolution. She eventually meets her grandchild by practically stalking him. He's the first to hear her side of things.

• Matthew Allen “Meyer”: Important side character
Matthew is Lily's ex-husband, Nick's dad. He is present in everyone's pov, some with more presence than the others. He didn't know what Mai or Otto, his dad, had done to both his brother Thomas or to Lily. And when it came to choose between leaving that life with Lily or staying, he chose to stay. He seemed unempathetic every time he was mentioned by anyone other then Lily. I couldn't connect with him, but at the same time I understood. He tried to by his kid's forgiveness rather than genuinely apologizing, which to me, is a very American thing to do.

Review:
I don’t know where to start honestly. I liked it, but somehow I wasn’t satisfied.

The story is told from three generational POV: daughter, grandson, grandmother. I appreciated this, a lot actually. It made sense in the story. Having the grandmother’s pov come last is clever, especially when it came to the theme of time.

I saw many similarities between Lily, Nick & Mai. Like the whole being raised as an US American, I've actually seen this happen in my own culture, especially in first generation kids.

There is also a common trend among immigrants and their parents when it comes to not sharing personal information. Yes, some may be trying to forget their past experiences, others just don't know how. My grandparents were the same and my parents are currently doing this, although they've opened up more. I also see the trend of this happening as they grow older. Which goes hand in hand with Khong's theme of time.

I don't know if this book is being advertised as "magical realism." If it is, it's probably because of that "time" power that all three share. And of course the mentions of the Chinese Moon Goddess mythology.

I listned to this, even though I bought the book. I appreciate how they used different people for the main characters, it made it easier to follow, considering there wasn't a part/section separation/identifier between the character's povs. I think that's what made me have a little bit of a hard time following, but it was momentarily.

Overall, it's a good story. It's well written.

Rating Breakdown:
Characters: 4
Plot/Storyline: 4.5
Pace: 5
Writing Style: 5
Narrator(s): 5
Overall Rating: 4.7 rounded to a 4.75

Quotes:
"...'the rocks were earth,' Matthew said. 'Meant to remind us of our smallness'"

"...that we were so insignificant, that we didn't matter. Even now, it's something I understood in the abstract, not in any real way."

"Time, it's the one thing [rich people] can't but."

"'They buy my paintings because they want to own time itself. A painting is the next best thing.'"

"Meaning was a slippery fish I was trying to catch with one hand."

"Can a life be meaningful if it's foundation is anything besides work?"

"Was motherly-ness something that could be cultivated?"

"What does say about me? That I can only understand myself in relation to another person. Alone, I was a blank."

"Without time, ambition is worth nothing. It's only frustration."

"How could one man have done so much damage. That was power that one person could wield so much influence over the lives of strangers."

"So much of my life I've let slip by because I have not attended to it. All this while instead of seeking more time, I could have been paying attention." 

This is definitely a top book of 2024 for me! Rachel Khong writes a beautiful, sweeping family saga centered on the lives of Lily during Y2K NYC, her son Nick during 2021 Washington state, and her mom May in 2030 San Francisco reflecting on her experiences in 1966 China during the Cultural Revolution. This book tackles a lot of big themes such as immigration, race (the relationship between Lily and Nick and how race factors in really hit home for me!), privilege, fortune, science, ethics—basically all the things I LOVE to explore in a novel—all the while posing the existential question of what it means to be a real American. I loved Khong’s writing and how she made the characters so enjoyable yet complicated. My favorite was Lily’s timeline, then May’s, and their stories could easily be separate books!