The lives, loves and struggles of three generations of one Chinese-American family.

In 1966, Mei Ling has fought to escape her rural farming family to study science at Peking University. As revolution swirls around her, she fights to realize her dream of making a difference in the world through her work and falls in love with a fellow student. But she has always fought too hard against those who would keep her contained, and runs afoul of the Red Guard. Sent back to the countryside as a laborer, she and the young man she loves plot to escape to Hong Kong and make their way to America, but will she have to chose between love and her dream?

In 1999, art history major Lily works as an unpaid intern in the art department of a New York City media company, trying to find her direction. Her immigrant Chinese parents are consumed with their work as scientists, but Lily did not inherit their passion….nor can she find another. Her mother May in particular is disappointed at how unexceptional Lily has turned out to be. A chance meeting with Matthew, the son of a wealthy-beyond-measure family behind a major pharmaceutical company, leads Lily to a life of limitless luxuries as they fall in love, marry and have a son. She is surprised to find that she, like so many of her Asian friends, has married a white man….but she has always felt American, not Chinese, so why should it matter? But her family and Matthew’s have hidden secrets which erupt in the middle of her new life, and Lily finds that she cannot base her future and that of her son on the foundation of what she discovers happened in the past.

Nick has grown up in a small island community near Seattle with his single mother, Lily. He is half Chinese-American, but with his fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes this ancestry does not announce itself to the world at large. He has always believed that his father chose to leave Nick and his mother, but when his best friend urges him to have his DNA tested, he finds that his father Matthew is out there and wants to meet him. He keeps his new relationship with his father a secret from his mom, and ultimately it helps him gain admittance to a prestigious university and opens many other doors. His father has another family, though, and his loyalties to them like Nick’s to his mother pull them apart. Secrets are corrosive, and Nick’s relationships with both Matthew and Lily end up in tatters. He focuses on his career, but even that will not escape the tentacles of his past.

Told from the points of view of different characters at varying moments in time, Real Americans unveils the stories of a young woman fleeing communism and fighting to be considered an equal in the US when many dismiss her due to her ethnicity and her gender; a young woman who is categorized as Chinese by those in America and as American by the Chinese (and like many first generation young people feels accepted by neither) struggles to make her family proud of her and to find acceptance by those in her new life; and finally a young man who longs for things he doesn’t have and risks losing the important things he possesses. A story containing many stories, with richly developed characters whose lives slowly intertwine over the years. The search for love, for success, and for creating positive change fuels their lives, but in the end they wish only that they had treasured the relationships they had and that they had more time to do just that. Readers of authors like Ha Jin, Amy Tan, and Lisa See should definitely pick up a copy of Real Americans, as should anyone who enjoys reading of family relationships and the desire to give the best future possible to those you love. Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for allowing me early access to this expertly crafted saga.;

Lily Chen is the first point of view in this story of three generations of a family that had immigrated from China. Three generations of hopes and dreams and secrets and grudges. With the other points of view, her son next, and finally her mom, both the timeline and a variety of secrets were slowly revealed in a heart breaking manner. I loved how the dysfunctional relationships changed throughout the story. I do wish that we had gotten some more insight from Lily later in the story, maybe explaining some things to Nick. I feel like we never really god to the heart of her and her choices. But this story was strong and will stay with me for a while. Hopefully it won't need to stay for 7 years before Ms. Khong's next book.

"Real Americans" by Rachel Khong is a compelling novel that explores American identity through the lens of a Chinese-American family spanning three generations. With its mix of history, science, and interpersonal drama, the book tackles themes of race, class, and family dynamics in a way that is both thought-provoking and engaging.

The story unfolds through three different timelines and perspectives: Lily Chen, an ambitious daughter of Chinese immigrants who finds herself struggling with motherhood; her son Nick, a teenager coming of age while searching for his identity; and Mei, Lily's mother, whose journey from Mao's China to America provides a poignant backstory. This structure allows Khong to create a rich narrative tapestry that explores the varied experiences of an immigrant family in the United States.

Khong's writing is immersive and lyrical, capturing the emotional depth of her characters and the complexities of their relationships. The inclusion of a scientific angle adds an intriguing twist, though some readers may find this aspect distracting from the central themes of family and cultural identity. The book's structure, while ambitious, can sometimes feel disjointed due to its shifting timelines, requiring readers to piece together the narrative threads.

Despite these limitations, "Real Americans" offers a unique perspective on what it means to be an American and how our past influences our future. The ambiguity in the ending may leave some readers wanting more closure, but it also provides an opportunity for deeper reflection on the broader questions posed by the novel.

Overall, this is a captivating read that is both insightful and emotional, ideal for those who enjoy multi-generational family sagas and stories that delve into the complexities of cultural identity. While the unconventional structure might require a bit more focus, the richly drawn characters and compelling themes make "Real Americans" a book worth picking up.

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf, and Rachel Khong for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a breathtaking, ambitious novel.

Real Americans opens as a love story. Our first POV narrator, Lily, is a first-generation Chinese American seeking purpose and stability in her 20s and reconciling the fact that she will likely be a disappointment to her parents because of her lack of career ambitions. With her, we experience a whirlwind, fairy tale romance with a considerate and generous white man who also happens to be the heir to a somewhat shady fortune. Their love is fearless.

But by the time we meet the second POV narrator, their son, Nick, it is long over. Now, the narrative shifts into a coming of age story about identity and family. Nick is the spitting image of his white father, but was raised completely by his mother. We meet him as he is selecting colleges (in many ways, selecting the rest of his future), reconnecting with his father, not completely healthily disentangling his identity from his mother's, and figuring out a key friendship.

And then the narrative changes yet again. Our third POV narrator is Mei / May, Lily's mother and Nick's grandmother. She is telling her story to Nick in 2030 and her story is primarily a historical accounting of surviving Mao Zedong's Communist Revolution of China, the great love she had and lost, the friendships corrupted, her escape to the United States, and her insatiable quest for scientific knowledge.

I love that the narrative is told in order from least to most context, rather than chronologically (it's so rare for the oldest member of the family to speak in the most contemporary plot thread), which is fitting for a novel that is so concerned about time (having enough, using it well, making sense of it). I love that the family dynamics and the sense of self remains complex - never artificially tied into a bow. The writing is heart wrenching and gorgeous with lines like, "That was what love had always been for me: denying your own reality in order to protect another person."

Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy! #RealAmericans #NetGalley

Real Americans by Rachel Khong quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. It's a multigenerational story that includes genetics and science but it's also so much more than that. The characters that we follow in this book were so well-written that I just refuse to believe that they don't actually exist in real life. They felt so human and real. The character development is FANTASTIC. Oh my goodness, as someone who loves character driven stories, this one was one of the best. Rachel Khong's writing is amazing, as well. It's not flowery, it's not overt but it's catches your attention and you get hooked. The way the topic of identity is explored in this book was also something that fascinated me. National identity, familiar identity. Wow, I am in love with this book and I will definitely be thinking about it for a long time. I will probably never shut about about this book and will be recommending it to EVERYONE.

This book was… a lot. Parts of it were definitely 5-star, but parts were easily 1-star; I give it a solid 3.5 stars. There are 3 generations of stories broken down into sections, but all correlating and woven together as the story of a family line forever changed by fortune. The most resounding theme throughout the book was fortune and fate and the intertwining of the two; fortune being both wealth and luck in terms of destiny. I thought some story lines ended abruptly and without enough closure. Overall, I would recommend this book if you like fiction that reads like memoir. It didn't really land with me though.

4.5 stars

I just finished a major project for class, so I’m hoping to have some time for catching up on my leisure reading over the next couple weeks. I decided to pick up Rachel Khong’s Real Americans next because of an author talk I plan to attend (which I’m very much looking forward to!).

I will start off by saying that, admittedly, this was one of those books that I found a little bit hard to parse at times, mostly because of the “science” element — which, even though it remains largely in the background throughout most of the story, it does play a pretty significant role in advancing parts of the plot. That said however, I feel that the way Khong structured the story is brilliant — there are 3 parts to the story, each told from the first person perspective of 3 different characters: Lily in 1999, Nick in 2021, and Mei in 2030. All 3 voices felt distinct to me, which is an admirable feat, no doubt, given how different it is to pull off. The first part of the story, told from Lily’s perspective, reads like a romance, as it is the love story of how Lily — the daughter of Chinese immigrants who struggles to make sense of her life working a dead-end job that she’s not even getting paid for — meets Matthew, the rich heir of a pharmaceutical conglomerate -a and how they ultimately fall in love and start a family together. Part 2 fast forwards 22 years later — Lily and Matthew are separated and Lily is raising their son Nick, who is 15 years old, alone in a remote part of Washington. Told from Nick’s perspective, this part feels like a coming of age story, as Nick (who, though biracial, looks more like his father than his mother) struggles to come to terms with his own identity as well as that of his estranged father, whom his mother refuses to tell him anything about. Part 3 takes place 9 years later, in 2030, but actually provides the backstory that explains many of the things that happened in parts 1 and 2. This last section (which reads like historical fiction) is told from the perspective of Lily’s mother Mei, as she recounts what her life was like growing up in China in the 1960s, at the height of the country’s Cultural Revolution, and how she ended up fleeing to America. What I found interesting about this structure is that all 3 parts, at times, read like 3 different stories (albeit with the same characters), and interestingly enough, the 3 timelines never truly converge like most multiple timeline stories do, yet the overarching story as a whole never felt disjointed. As I was reading, I was continually engaged with the story, even though oftentimes, not a whole lot was actually happening plot-wise. All the characters in here were also well-drawn, realistic, and relatable — especially the 3 characters who narrate the story.

Another interesting thing to note with this story is that it’s not one of those stories that ties everything up neatly (and not just the ending). There are gaps in all 3 timelines that are never fully explained, yet the story still feels complete somehow (not sure how to explain this properly but I think those who’ve read this will know what I mean).

Overall, this was an engrossing read that I absolutely recommend. The story itself is definitely the slow burn type — quiet, subtle, and rarely makes any major waves — yet it also never felt boring to me (case in point, I read this in 2 days because I couldn’t bring myself to put it down). Part of this was due to Khong’s writing, which the blurb to the book already describes perfectly as “moving” and “immersive.” I haven’t yet read Khong’s debut novel Goodbye, Vitamin, but given how much I enjoyed this new one, I will definitely have to go back and read that one.

Received ARC from Knopf via NetGalley.

Real Americans is a book that totally hit my sweet spot of a story that “makes you think and makes you feel”. Through a multigenerational family saga that explores big themes of identity, consequences of past decisions, ethics of science and genetics, impacts of culture and social status, and so much more, this gem gave me a reading experience that I thoroughly enjoyed!

The novel unravels in three separate sections, each told from a different characters’ point of view and at a different period of time. Starting at the turn of the millennium in late 1999, we are introduced to Lily at the start of what blossoms into a relationship with Matthew, a man who couldn't be more different in terms of cultural background, wealth and class. We then jump to 2021 where we meet Nick, a teenager getting ready to graduate high school and carrying every bit of drama and angst one might expect from a teen confused about his family and future, as he slowly comes to know the father that he never knew while growing up. And lastly in 2030, we see through the eyes of Mei, an elderly woman thoughtfully reflecting upon her days growing up in China, pursuing a career in science, and immigrating to the United States, all while recounting all of the hardships she endured and decisions she made throughout her life.

There was certainly a lot going on at times and some storylines felt stronger and more developed than others, but at the same time it felt like there would be something for a wide array of different readers in this novel. There’s family drama, ethical dilemmas, and even a little bit of magical realism tossed in for good measure. Mei’s story in the last section of the book was my favorite, but overall, I felt emotionally invested in and connected to each character that we encountered along the way. I particularly loved the ending, which despite being a little open-ended, just felt like such a fitting way to complete the story.

All in all, this was an emotionally evocative, thought-provoking, well-paced book that seemed to have something for everyone! There were just a few loose ends that never really felt like that got tied up for me, such as the magical realism component, that ultimately kept it from being a full five-star read. But I think Real Americans would make for a fantastic book club read, full of so many things to discuss!

I can’t wait to go back and read Goodbye, Vitamin by this author, and I look forward to more of her work in the future. Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

REAL AMERICANS spans decades and follows three generations of family: the matriarch May, daughter Lily, and grandson Nick.

This novel is nuanced and layered, with a depth that I cannot help but enjoy. The well-crafted prose is atmospheric and vividly painted a picture I could immerse myself in. Each POV approached the world with a candid voice and shared truthful observations that inspire quiet reflection. Throughout my reading experience, I was challenged to think philosophically about choice and what it means to be "American".

Highly recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and ALFRED A. KNOPF for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I kept hearing rave reviews about this one and it lived up to those high expectations! This multigenerational story managed to cover so much ground - immigration stories, a little bit of mystical, genetics and scientific experimentation, wealth and wanting. My favorite way about how each character's story was told was getting to experience the same moments from multiple perspectives, both of the main characters and at least one periphery character. The three main family members it focused on were so fully realized and it all came together so beautifully. Highly recommend!

DNF at 75%. I was really excited to read this multigenerational family saga and could see a lot of potential at the beginning. It’s told in 3 separate stories/perspectives and I really liked the first section. Unfortunately it then lost steam for me in the second and ultimately lost me in the third. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley and PRH audio for the free ebook/audiobook to review.

Real Americans was an incredible family epic. This is one of my favorite genres of historical and literary fiction, so I expected to love it going in. Each time the narrative shifted, from Lily to Nick to May, there was even more to learn about their family and past. Each perspective revealed secrets, and these well-executed moments earned gasps and tears from me. This book reminded me a lot of Pachinko, which also follows a singular family over decades. I honestly can't pick which character perspective section I enjoyed the most, because I feel like they all took up necessary space, and contributed greatly to the story. At the end, I love this book like I would a five-star read, but I chose to rate it a bit lower because I had some trouble in the beginning getting attached to Lily's character. I struggled to pick it up until I was about 30% through. But star ratings aren't everything; I would still recommend this to anyone that has interest in moving family dramas, historical fiction, immigrant stories, and overall incredible literary fiction. Thank you for an advance copy!

"As people we interrupted one another's lives - that was what we did. If you sought to live your life without interruption you wound up like me: living life without interruption, totally alone."

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. 5 Stars. Best book I've read this year.

Let's take a step back. For fans of Pachinko or The Many Daughters of Among Foy, Real Americans is a saga of daughter, son, and grandmother who are faced with choices they were given, and realizing that they don't really have a choice in the matter. Lily is a 20-something in the early 2000's who meets a handsome and obscenely wealthy man. Her parents are immigrants from China but who have assimilated to America so completely she fears she will never truly know who they are.

Nick is a young man in a post Pandemic world who wants to know who his dad is while exploring the pitfalls of young adulthood.

May is a brilliant girl who was raised to expect no choice in her life whatsoever, but works hard to escape poverty only to find herself embroiled in Mao's Revolution in 1960's Beijing.

Beautifully written novel - I probably highlighted every chapter.

"Real Americans" delves into the multi-generational saga of a family navigating the complexities of migration, secrets, and fractured relationships. Charles and May, fleeing Mao Zedong's China, establish themselves in America as genetic scientists. Despite May's initial reluctance for motherhood, she becomes a parent to Lily, but their bond remains strained due to May's career-focused priorities.

Lily's life takes a turn when she falls in love with Matthew during her internship, resulting in the birth of their son, Nick. However, a long-guarded family secret disrupts their lives, leading to estrangement between Lily and May, and the dissolution of Lily's marriage to Matthew. Raised by his single mother, Nick embarks on a journey to discover his roots, seeking out both his father and his estranged grandmother.

The narrative unfolds non-linearly, unveiling Lily's, Nick's, and finally May's perspectives. Through May's revelations about their exodus from China and her scientific pursuits in the US, readers are drawn into the intricate lives of each character. "Real Americans" intricately weaves together the threads of familial bonds, love, and longing, immersing readers in the poignant journeys of its protagonists.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong will be one of my favorite books of the year. The multi generational story told through three point of views was captivating!

Real Americans has something for everyone: family drama, magical realism, historical fiction, culture, romance, and science. I couldn’t get enough. I felt deeply connected to all of the characters.

This was my first book of Khong’s and I absolutely loved it. I need to go back and read her back catalogue. I will absolutely read anything she writes in the future.

Pick up Real Americans when it publishes April 30. You won’t be disappointed!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

My first draft of this review contained a typo: instead of Real Americans, I wrote Good Americans. It’s a small mistake, but it’s inspired me to mull over what exactly a “Good” American is. Is this in conflict with being a “Real” American? Are they one and the same? These are questions without easy answers, and, more importantly, questions that are explored poignantly in Rachel Khong’s beautiful book.
This is a story of three generations: Lily, an art history major in the early 2000s, Nick, her son, coming of age on Puget Sound, and Lily’s mother Mei, a biologist and survivor of China's Cultural Revolution. Each of our three protagonists offers a fresh perspective on the events of the novel. We watch Lily as she grapples with the conflict of her marriage and decision to leave it; Nick as he discovers family secrets and evolves from a curious teenager to a determined truth-seeker; Mei as she flees Maoist China and grapples with the ethical implications of genetic research. Although the POV chapters are separated into three distinct parts within the book, the stories are tightly interwoven, offering us a panoramic view of their interconnected lives.
This is an exceptional book. I’m reminded, like so many other reviewers, of Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which was one of my favorite releases of last year. So many ethical quandaries are discussed within these pages: are we right to play god? How do science and consumerism intersect? What is the role of our family in free will? Despite all the philosophy, this is an immensely readable narrative. The plot twists and turns, and yet it never feels unrealistic. More importantly, given that this is a character-driven book, the characters are incredibly well-developed. Not only our main trio but our side characters as well: Mei’s husband, Lily’s husband, Nick’s best friend all leap off the page just as much as our main cast.
Real Americans is a richly-imagined world of complex characters. There are no easy answers, and there are no “good” people — only “real” people, who often do good things, but just as often do bad ones, too. I absolutely devoured this novel, and I’m incredibly excited to see what else Rachel Khong has in store.

This was a 5 star read for me. It starts with Lily’s story and I was captivated from page 1. When it switched to Nick’s point of view, I took a moment to to readjust to the new perspective. Then it added this mystery element in the mix so again, I was all in. Lastly, we have May’s POV, which made me shift again. But everything tied into such a rich, thought provoking story.

I loved everything about it from the writing, the plot, and the story style. It has so many great discussable moments that it aches to be a book club read. Family is hard. Expectations of how one person wants to be loved versus how a person shows love is a very impactful insight into human personality. Right and wrong become blurred. Communication is key. Honesty, is a gray area. And hardships vary from generation to generation.

There is just so much I could go on about with this book! This is a favorite read this year and now I definitely want to read the author’s previous novel, “Goodbye, Vitamin.”

Posted Instagram @carolinehoppereads

📚: Real Americans by Rachel Khong
⭐️: 3.5/5 (rounding down on #goodreads)

Spanning across three generations and 50 or so years, Real Americans asks the question, what makes us who we are? (And what is a ‘real American’ anyway?)

The story is broken down into 3 parts - the first being Lily’s in the late 1990s. After graduating from NYU, she finds herself working an unpaid media internship, incredibly broke, and meets Matthew. Fast forward to 2021, Nick is 15 years old, living on a remote Washington island with his single mom, Lily. She’s been less than forthcoming about his roots, and he’s searching for answers as he comes of age. Rewind back to 1950s communist China, and matriarch May’s story is told of survival.

There were so many parts of this book that were beautiful to read, fascinating to think about after, and emotional to connect with. That said, it suffered from trying to do too much. The thread that ties all three narratives together should (theoretically) be the main plot line - and honestly, it’s the weakest. It comes in strongest in the last 10% of the book, when it feels more like an afterthought that needs explaining than anything else. It felt distracting from so much thoughtfulness of the story around race, class, and acceptance across generations.

Thank you to Knopf via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Real Americans is out at the end of the month, on 4/30.
1m

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for the galley of this book.

This book took me forever to read- I think this book is better to read in a couple large doses instead of little by little (which is unfortunately how I read it). There are a lot of characters, a lot of shifting back and forth in time and place, and you need to have the characters and plot fresh and top of mind to get the most of it.
This is an inter-generational story that really packs a punch. You are engrossed in everyone’s lives, past and present- Mae, Lily, and Nick. As a reader, time isn’t chronological throughout the book- you are constantly reseting yourself in a new time and space.
Real Americans is about privilege, fortune, time, grief, power, control, race (lots more themes than this too) and what it means to be human and how we come to grips with our humanity and what we can and can not control. Spoiler alert: it’s not a lot. I found myself thinking about the themes of this book quite often- would be a great book club book, because there is so much to discuss.

Excellent generational story. This is the kind of book where I miss the characters once I'm done. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. Highly recommend.