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The Family Chao cover art

The Family Chao

By: Lan Samantha Chang
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
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Publisher's Summary

A remarkable family novel about racism, community and judgement, for listeners of Celeste Ng, C Pam Zhang, Brit Bennett and Jeffrey Eugenides.

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 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 - naïve 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, while a small town looks on in disbelief....

An inventive comic mystery about the undercurrents of an unfortunate death and a timeless tale about distrust, judgement and condemnation.

©2022 Lan Samantha Chang (P)2022 Recorded Books

Critic Reviews

"An insightful comedy of the American immigrant experience, and of a small town’s inner workings." (John Irving)

"A gorgeous and gripping literary mystery...reflecting themes of family, betrayal, passion, race, culture and the American Dream.... A masterpiece." (Jean Kwok)

"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)

What listeners say about The Family Chao

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