The story is based on not belonging to anywhere but belonging to a family or culture first. except when you are a teenager of course you shun everything you know to be your own person, or like everyone else. It's the normal passage of life. This story goes into the issues of relocating from your birth culture and starting again, how to adapt, what to change, how to be accepted, do you want to be accepted? Interesting link between Malay and china, of which I knew nothing about and brings the topic of racial equality and social standing and how important it was to have a nationality. The aspiration of a US passport was maybe not all it should have been or were they sold the great american dream? Interesting take from the different generations and how putting on a brave face was so important for survival, even if it destroys those close to you. Separating families and hidden secrets finally are understood and maybe some peace to move forward and offer the opportunities and teachings to the next generation, I hope so. Written with feeling and compassion, you can feel the displacement and yearning to belong somewhere. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

I want to thank @netgalley for this advance audiobook for Dandelion. This is a must read/ listen. The narrator was engaging. The author captured so much of real life and it’s complexities. This is an important read for anyone who wants to understand more on what it is like to be an immigrant or a child of immigrants and how you feel like you don’t fit in either culture. She described the micro aggressions that they face daily. The author also captured the challenges of motherhood and the emotions along with it. I highly recommend this book. 5 stars!

This novel, about a Chinese-Canadian woman trying to come to terms with her upbringing and her mother's decisions, opens with a prologue, as Lily, the adult main character, is about to give birth. The next 40% of the novel takes place in Lily's childhood. This story structure slowed the pace tremendously. I think keeping us in Lily's present-day timeline, with use of flashback and memory for backstory, would have loaned the narrative more drive and kept me more engaged. This is a novel which centers Lily's inner life, and not much happens. There is a lot of repetition: how many characters tell Lily "no, I haven't seen your mother"? So, while I appreciated learning the perspective of a Malaysian/Bruneian/Chinese immigrant family in Canada, I found the pace and writing not to my taste.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bespeak Audio editions for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 actually.

I was intrigued by the book's synopsis and love to discover a new author (to me at least).

Dandelion is a memoir-style fiction written by Lily who is a Canadian citizen. Her heritage however is somewhat more complicated and it us this heritage that frequently causes confusion and pain.

Lily's father instigated the move to Canada from Brunei where he and Lily's mother live in strained circumstances - she is a registered citizen, he is not. It is this statelessness that drives Lily's father - he has no real roots, no status and no rights.

Lily's mother's situation is different- she is a citizen and has left behind her elderly mother and sisters.

To move anywhere is always a gamble but to move from the sub-tropics to Canada is clearly a challenge in more ways than Lily's mother, Swee Hua can deal with. She becomes increasingly unhappy and disenchanted with her new life, constantly searching for something to ground her.

Then she disappears one day following a tragedy of her husband's making.

The remainder of the book follows Lily's life and her final acceptance that she must know what happened to her mother. This part brings many devastating revelations and an end that no one could have forseen.

I really enjoyed this audio version. The narrator was calm and measured and I was engaged with the story from the first page. Lily's story is compelling but heartbreaking. Her father is very definite in his outlook - he is now a Canadian citizen and that's all he needs to know; her mother is a lost soul - never settling, never content. It is a sad tale in many ways but does end on an optimistic note.

I'd definitely recommend this for anyone, like me, who enjoys an autobiographical-style family story; anyone who enjoys reading a new and exciting author. It is well written; a touching story sensitively told.

I got this ARC on audio from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've been thinking a lot about what makes a 5 star book, compared of course to 4 stars, or perhaps even fewer. I've decided that it's just something you know. Unquantifiable, it just is. You get to a point in the book and think, this is going to be 5 stars, there's no way the author can sway me at this point.

Jamie Chai Yun Liew has done this with Dandelion. I't s a moving, heartfelt, relatable account of a young woman's relationship with her own mother, from childhood to adulthood. I feel like I could write an essay about each section of this novel, and yet the word novel feels so inadequate because it feels so much more real than a fictional account. Perhaps this is extra felt in the audiobook version with the first person narration.

I am surprised I haven't been hearing more about this book - is it not exactly what we need in Can lit today? It embodies all of the themes we love and treasure in canadian literature (namely nature and family) but adds a beautiful international and multigenerational dimension that speaks so strongly to culture and modern life.

On a completely different note, I identified so strongly with the motherhood reflections of the narrator (Lily) and felt this so keenly and closely (hence why I think I could write different essays for each section of this novel).

Five on five, strongly recommend, will be buying for friends and family.

This is exactly the book I needed after a few duds.

The prose was beautiful, the characters were brilliant, and the description of food was drool worthy!
Following one character at two points of her life? Hook it to my veins!
Displaced peoples, non-citizenship, second generation immigrant’s relationship with their family and family’s birthplace? Yes please!

It’s also nice to hear a story from Canada vs the US when it comes to immigration to North America, especially given how many immigrants do go to Canada.

Anyway I loved it, I loved the audio version with brilliant narration and hearing the unfamiliar language and foods read by someone who knows how to pronounce them.

Catch me not shutting up about this for the rest of the year.