I featured this title on Book Riot's best books for book clubs in 2022 (link below). Loved the story, but found so many people had no idea it was a mystery. Would love for it to be marketed to more mystery readers! I feel like they are missing out on this one.

A Chinese American family has operated a successful Chinese restaurant for many years. The father is unloved, and unlovable, by his family, the mother has moved out of their home and the 3 sons are now converging for a family meeting.

The blurb for this book says that “The Family Chao offers a kaleidoscopic, highly entertaining portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with the dark undercurrents of a seemingly pleasant small town”. That describes a completely different book than the one I read. First, it was not highly entertaining and second, there were no dark undercurrents in the town, all of the darkness was in the family. Most of the unpleasantness came from the father of the family, a crude bully, but all members of the family were awash in bitterness, weakness and self-hatred. It wasn’t a fun book.

After I started the book, I read that it is supposed to be based on “The Brothers Karamazov”. I read that book a million years ago and remember nothing about it. Maybe this book would have been more interesting if I could have tried to identify parallels between the two books. That might have also been an entertaining exercise for the author, but I don’t know why the author couldn’t have just written about an American immigrant family without reference to a group of 19th century Russians. One problem I had with the book was that the characters had conversations that only an author could create. The blurb also has an irresponsible tease about the fate of the family dog. <spoiler>Don’t worry about it. No trigger warning is needed.</spoiler>

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

super astute and confident. a touch more orientated towards family drama and problem solving than mystery, but it's got a good bite to it.

I think you had to read “The Brothers Karamazov” first.

I haven’t read it, and found The Family Chao a tough read. The characters seemed one-dimensional, and the most fully-fleshed of them, the father, was despicable. This is not a family dynamic I understand, and I didn’t feel like I was any farther forward in understanding after plowing through the book.

II look forward to hearing more from others more steeped in Russian literature!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 1/2 stars. This was billed as a murder mystery, but that was only a small part of the story. It's really a family story set in a small town in Wisconsin, and the murder doesn't happen until at least halfway through the book. The Chao family has run a Chinese restaurant in their small town for years, and while they're successful (thanks to their incredibly hard work), their lives aren't easy, and they're often subjected to casual racism. The father in the story is a terrible man, and when he's murdered it's no surprise there are quite a few suspects. I don't think it's a coincidence that the plural of the family name is "chaos." The first half of the book was more interesting to me, because it described the family, their relationships, and their history. Once the murder trial started, I didn't find it as compelling. Thank-you to NetGalley, W.W. Norton and Co., and Lan Samantha Chang for the ARC of this title.

Was happy to include this novel in February’s Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction. (In Zoomer magazine’s Zed Book Club section.)

Pub date: 2/1/22 (out now)
Genre: literary fiction, own voices, family drama
In one sentence: When restaurant owner Leo Chao is found dead, the suspicion falls upon his sons in this retelling of The Brothers Karamazov.

I haven't read The Brothers Karamazov, but the family drama premise of this book was very appealing. I enjoyed meeting all three of the brothers: Dagou, a chef at the family restaurant, Ming, who's turned his back on his family to find success, and James, a student still trying to find himself. There's a lot of tension and secretive behavior in this family, and Chang lays out the mystery piece by piece. I did not see some of the reveals coming, but the identification of the culprit and denouement were very satisfying.

I struggled a bit with the epic nature of this book, as I sometimes do with literary fiction - there was just so much to keep straight. But I'm glad I stuck through it, and I would still recommend it - just don't expect it to be a quick and easy read. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to W.W. Norton & Company for providing an ARC on NetGalley.

I think one of the main characters of The Family Chao sums up the book nicely when he says, "Searching for strange flavors, ethnic exoticism, a little family hostility, immigrant anxiety, served up with a heady dash of self-hatred?" He was talking about the upcoming Christmas party at his family's Chinese restaurant in Wisconsin, but Lan Samantha Chang explores all of those themes in her new novel.

It's no coincidence that the Chao's last name also looks a lot like "chaos". Chaos is what the family tumbles into in the days leading up to Christmas. All three sons are home for the holidays, whether or not they want to be, bound by filial duty, but also trying to figure out who they are separate from their overbearing father and selfish mother. Who are they as Americans, as Chinese, as lovers, as brothers?

It all leads up to the death of the family patriarch and a murder trial that brings family and community secrets to the forefront.

Apparently, this is a modern-day retelling of The Brothers Karamazov. I didn't know that going into this, nor have I ever read the Russian classic, so I can't make comparisons. But what I do know is that The Family Chao stands on its own. If you think your family is dysfunctional, just wait until you meet the Chaos.

The Family Chao is published by W.W. Norton Company and is available to purchase now. I received a free e-ARC in exchange for this review.

This was tough to rate. I tried this book on audio after great praise from Jordy’s Bookclub. I unfortunately did not connect with this at all. I found it dull and hard to follow on audio after 5 chapters.
I DNF-Ed this title.

I really enjoyed this one! The story follows a family running a Chinese restaurant in Wisconsin, and felt a little like the tv show Succession in small town form, plus a murder. A tiny slow paced at times, but a fresh idea and the characters were incredibly intriguing. For fans of family dramas and mysteries.

I love Lan Samantha Chang's writing so much. Her books are ones that I revisit time and time again, and The Family Chao is just wonderful. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and this book transported me there. Her retelling of the Brothers Karamazov is creative and fresh, but this book will also stand on its own.

The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang opens up with the death of Leo Chao, the owner of the Fine Chao Restaurant is a Wisconsin town. Fine Chao is a staple of the town, despite the gossip that has surrounded the owners for years. The gossip turns darker after the suspicious death of Leo and even the Chao sons are under suspicion by the town. With sons Dagou, Ming, and James each having their own motives that may explain their father's death, tensions rise and the true nature of the residents are revealed.

When I read this book summary, I was instantly intrigued as books are rarely set in restaurant settings. Now that I've read this, I am happy to have read it! This book gave much more wit a highly dysfunctional family and town. Leo was far from a good man, who was selfish and favored anything that got him what he wanted, no matter the cost. The sons were complex characters with their own flaws, but Ming and James I was rooting for.

The setting in this book played a crucial part to the story. This is a town in Wisconsin and it certainly has racist and xenophobic beliefs towards Asians. This aspect makes reading some parts difficult, but is very important to include as it was part of the character's history and informs how the townspeople can act during the trial and the societal "trial".

As for the writing, it is smart and often includes humor to balance the difficult parts to the plot. If you have read Dostoevsky's "Brothers Karamazov" you may appreciate some of the tiebacks to this story, but is not necessary to have read that novel to enjoy it. The structure of the book is broken up into two with the first half tackling the family and the second half focused on the murder and trial. I thought this was fantastic as you got to understand the family and their history to understand the motivations and dynamics that may be important to the murder in the second half.

Overall, this was a great novel and I highly recommend this for those who love great character development with a clever murder mystery.

Many thanks to the publisher W. W. Norton & Company and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Lan Samantha Chang's novel is a wildly entertaining exploration of family, secrets, and self-image set against a pitch-perfect rendering of restaurant life. I grew up in my dad's restaurant and 100% related to the food mythology, the squabbling, the weird owner-employee relationships. It's an environment rich with conflict and the backdrop is used to great effect in the plot. The first, almost-farcical half of the book made me laugh, and the courtroom/family drama of the rest was quite moving: so many broken people trying to do their best. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with this family.

I have mixed emotions about this book. It started off slow but then started getting interesting especially when Leo Chao is found dead. Couldn't have happened to a "nicer" fellow. Actually, he was quite a narcissist and the town was truly better off without him. Anyway, the mystery portion is probably tied to how he could have died; was it an accident, or was it murder? I did find this quote described Leo quite well:

Your father was the consummate American id, an insatiable narcissist, a shameless capitalist who wanted to screw everyone.

This family was quite dysfunctional and I wasn't sure I liked many of the characters. James was probably my favorite character of them all with Ming not too far behind. They weren't without their own faults and issues, but they seemed a bit more normal compared to the rest of the family.

This town in Wisconsin has racist issues especially toward those of Asian descent. There are countless mentions of bullying of the boys when in school and even as adults, there is a scene that could be considered bullying if what was said is true. I don't want to give away too much so you'll have to read the book.

Dagou, the oldest son, only wants what is due to him based on his father's promises when he came back to help run the restaurant. But considering Leo's character and other comments he makes at the beginning, it is easy to see why he wasn't liked and why Dagou was doing what he could to get what rightfully his, at least in his eyes.

Katherine is of Chinese descent but was adopted and raised by a white family. She tries to find a tie to her cultural background through Dagou and his family. While I think it is noble that she is searching for roots and where she fits in, I think she was trying too hard and needed to find a balance between her ethnicity and her adopted family.

There is a scene at the beginning where James helps an older man try and find his family but the man dies before they can get on the train. James ends up with this man's bag but it just seems to go missing in the story until about 2/3 of the way into the book. There are brief mentions here and there, but I kept wondering what happened to that bag considering the hints that are shared tied to the contents.

The characters deal with trust, loyalty, mental illness, love, and loss throughout the book. There are reflections on racism, immigration, and cultural differences that we can all learn a little something from the topics.

Overall, we give this 3 1/2 paws up.

Whether you enjoy humor, family drama, cultural identity crises, or murder mysteries, Lan Samantha Chang’s Family Chao may fit the bill for your next read.

Chang’s humor comes in many forms—one as simple as the name of the Chinese restaurant owned by Big Leo Chao for the past 35 years: Fine Chao.

As the novel opens, the middle and youngest Chao sons, Ming and James, are returning home to Haven, Wisconsin, after being summoned to a large Christmas dinner brother Dagou/William has planned at the Buddhist Spiritual Center where their mother Winnie has taken refuge. Dagou intends to use the opportunity, with everyone present, including the head nun and other residents, to make it nearly impossible for Big Leo to refuse a request.

On his way home from university, James stops to help an elderly man from China find the direction to his family’s American home. When man suddenly dies, James is left with the deceased man’s bag as EMTs remove his body. What seems like happenstance will come back to haunt James.
Six year’s earlier, Dagou had been called back to Haven to help run Fine Chao during his mother’s illness. His father had promised $50,000 or an equal partnership in the restaurant if Dagou worked six years. Big Leo is not one to keep promises.

Prior to the father-son confrontation, Winnie Chao, known as Sister Yun at the Spiritual Center, has arranged for Gu Ling Zhu Chi, the head nun, to tell fortunes, and fortunes are not always good.

Lan Samantha Chang, female director of the famed Iowa Writers’ Workshop, structures The Family Chao into two almost equal parts--events leading up to Big Leo Chao’s death and the aftermath of that death. Who wouldn’t be relieved to see Big Leo gone? But was his death an accident or murder?

The three sons become suspects, “All three intelligent, promising, and strong, but born into unspoken disadvantages.” Above all else, The Family Chao is the story of Big Leo’s three sons and their need to find their places in American society.

Novelist T. Geronimo Johnson, author of the satiric Welcome to Braggsville, aptly describes Chang’s new work: “Written in graceful prose and with astonishing perception, this novel is a must-read, a campaign against indifference, a journey into the heart of the American dream, and a page tuner.”

Thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton for an advance reader copy of this delectable new book.

I wanted to go into this read wanting to like it but sadly that didn't happen. I didn't even finish the read. I found it slow-paced yet confusing at the same time. I usually like family sagas but this one just didn't hold my interest.

Lan Samantha Chang's book The Family Chao is a story about family, community, culture, and betrayal. More specifically, one's responsibility towards one's family and community is highlighted within the story in a favourable light. Those who provide for others (e.g. Gu Ling Zhu Chi and Leo Chao) occupy a higher status within the community and command respect from others, something Dagou strives to achieve by hosting the Christmas super for the whole community.

The blurb makes it clear that Leo Chao dies, so I was surprised (and a little upset) when I reached p.100 and this still had not occurred. I think it was a bad choice on the part of the marketing team to announce this particular story point like it happens in the first 40 pages. It occurs near the halfway mark, which I think is way too deep in the story to be revealed outright in the summary.

The story was predictable at times, but it does not take away from the enjoyment of reading the book. In the end, the characters are what stood out to me the most. They are all well fleshed out, each with their own individual personalities and motivations. I felt invested in everyone's lives, the secondary characters just as much as the main ones. I will miss this small community with bright personalities!

From the start this book grabs your attention with its strong atmosphere. It is often described as a literary mystery, as it is, but I think the strength of this story is found on the literary side as we see such strong characters and such a realistic situation steal the show!

The setup: A family of Asian immigrants working hard to make a place in their community are at a cross-roads. With a tyrannical father, a distant and spiritual mother and a healthy dose of adolescent hormones, the Chao family are all looking for their very own American Dream. What that means, and it's importance is put to the test when a murder is committed!

Filled with family reliance and betrayal, the power of culture and the stigma of race, all told thru relatable characters and beautiful prose, you are sure to fall in love with the Family Chao!

Thanks NetGalley for this family drama that includes food and of course chaos. It had a bit of a mystery as well that made the book even more enjoyable. Why can't family get along? Haha... Thanks again to the publisher and the author Lan Samantha Chang.

I think Lan Samantha Chang's writing is fantastic. But I don't think I was the right reader for this book. The first half of the book, until Leo's death, was too slow for my preference. I am a reader who loves action, action, and more action. Up until Leo's death, the book was a slow and beautifully painted picture of the Chao family members and the side characters. For readers who love to delve deep into character studies, I think this book will be amazing. I think the characters are meticulously developed. But the pacing was too slow for my preferences. From the point of Leo's murder onward I enjoyed the story a lot more. Things were happening! I couldn't guess who the murderer was. This is minor - but the synopsis referred to the Chao family secrets, and I expected to uncover a lot of secrets and dirt! I know there was one big reveal...but beyond that the narrative was different than what I expected.

Below is the review I posted to my IG account @theonewhereaimeereads:

The Family Chao has a very interesting premise, it's a retelling of The Brothers Kramazov (which I have not read). The Chao family lives in Haven, Wisconsin, where they own and operate the local Americanized Chinese restaurant. The first half of the book is a bit of a character study, where you get to know Patriarch Big Leo, his wife Winnie, and their three sons Dagou, Ming and James. There is also a large cast of restaurant regulars and community members. These characters are FLAWED. Leo is greedy, stingy, self-serving, verbally abusive, manipulative and adulterous. His wife and sons are grappling with finding their own path under the crushing pressure of this overbearing and immoral Patriarch.

Mild spoiler (but honestly this is stated in the synopsis I'm just being overly cautious): Halfway through the book Leo is murdered. Practically everyone hates Leo, so there is no shortage of suspects. From this point onward the book is a murder mystery and trial. This was my favorite part of the book.

This is a story of immigrants. It highlights anti-Asian racism and questions the American Dream.

Ultimately, this book wasn't my cup of tea. But if a family drama + murder mystery is your thing, give it a try. I thought Lan Samantha Chang's writing is fantastic. Oh, and don't read on an empty stomach! The frequent discussion of food and cooking will have you itching to order takeout!