The first line - 'Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet.' Oh wow, what a beginning, where is this going, and where has it been to open with such a stunning nine little words. Lydia's family is very ordinary - Mum, Dad, three children - Nath her 17 year old brother, Lydia who is 16, and younger sister Hannah. It is 1977, the family live in a town in Ohio, Dad James is a lecturer at the local university, and Mum Marilyn is a stay-at-home Mum. The only difference, the only thing that makes them stand out in the local community is that they are Chinese, the only Chinese in the town. So not only do they look different which is terrible enough when you are a teenager, but they also carry the cultural expectation that the children are going to be genius, realise all the burdensome dreams of their parents, grandparents. Things in life have not turned out as expected for parents James and Marilyn and they see Lydia, the brightest star of the three children, as the channel of their unrealised ambitions.
All of this unfolds as the story gets underway, and we also read the backstory to James and Marilyn. These are just ordinary people, just like the majority of us. Many of us are parents, we have all been teenagers in our own often suffocating families. This novel explores and details oh so beautifully the intricate and intimate dynamics within a family, how it can go so terribly wrong so easily. The characters, all of them, are so well drawn and crafted, gently revealing themselves, their motivations. The tension is also gentle, slowly building, the big question being was Lydia murdered? Did she take her own life? Was it all an accident? Right up to the end the reader does not know. Although the death of Lydia is at the heart of the book, it is not actually what the book is about. Rather it is about a family, its dynamics, secrets, interactions, favouritism and disappointment. Very very good.
All of this unfolds as the story gets underway, and we also read the backstory to James and Marilyn. These are just ordinary people, just like the majority of us. Many of us are parents, we have all been teenagers in our own often suffocating families. This novel explores and details oh so beautifully the intricate and intimate dynamics within a family, how it can go so terribly wrong so easily. The characters, all of them, are so well drawn and crafted, gently revealing themselves, their motivations. The tension is also gentle, slowly building, the big question being was Lydia murdered? Did she take her own life? Was it all an accident? Right up to the end the reader does not know. Although the death of Lydia is at the heart of the book, it is not actually what the book is about. Rather it is about a family, its dynamics, secrets, interactions, favouritism and disappointment. Very very good.
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