“River East, River West” by author Aube Rey Lescure is one of the most interesting and engaging novels I’ve read all year. And I’ve not only read A LOT of novels this year, but also ones I enjoyed very much. “River East, River West” is unlike anything I’ve read before, full of lies, deceits and despicable behavior. It’s not that I haven’t read books with these same elements before, because I have. It’s that THIS novel takes place entirely in Communist China, both at the beginning of the cultural revolution and at the dawning of a more modern China, where it is possible for both Chinese and expatriates to amass great wealth.

The story primarily revolves around a drunk expatriate woman from New Jersey, Sloan, who relies almost exclusively on her foreignness and exotic looks to get by in China, and the two people she loves: her teenage daughter Alva, the product of an affair with an unknown Chinese man whose identity never is revealed, and a Chinese man many years her senior, Lu Fang. Alva believes Sloan has married him to ease their financial struggles, but we know there is much more to their relationship than that.

Alva is an American citizen by virtue of Sloan’s citizenship, though Alva never has been there. She wants desperately to leave China and live in the United States, where she believes life would be infinitely better for her. However, Sloan steadfastly refuses ever to return to the country of her birth, purportedly because she has painful memories of her parents dying in a car accident when she was young. Of course, this polarity causes friction between them. When her mother suddenly marries their wealthy landlord, Lu Fang, Alva is beside herself, finally grasping that her mother never will return to the United States willingly. Alva resents Lu Fang and Sloan for essentially trapping her in China through their union, and she rebels.

The story is told alternately by Alva and Lu Fang, and it also alternates in time between the present and the past. As the story develops we learn that Sloan and Lu Fang’s relationship began long before their wedding and that their feelings for each other are genuine, but this is something Alva doesn’t learn until nearly the end of the novel.

The book brilliantly explores the cultural and perceptual differences between Asians and European-Americans, between the haves and the have nots, one’s self perception and feelings of belonging and the sometimes false promise of “The American Dream.”

Thank you Ms. Lescure, William Morrow, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy of this book. I’m sorry it took me almost a year finally to read it, but it was worth the wait! So many books, too little time! My review is 100% voluntary.

River East, River West offers a compelling dual narrative that follows the trajectories of two characters, Alva and Lu Fang, against the backdrop of their cultural identities in China. Lescure deftly captures Alva's struggle as a frustrated multiracial teenager trying to find her place in a complex society. Her initial disdain for Lu Fang evolves into a deeper understanding as the story unfolds, showcasing her growth and resilience, though Alva's perspective sometimes feels more mature than expected for her age.

Lescure's unique focus on the tension in Alva's identity as not white enough for the expat community she desperately wants to join, nor Chinese enough for her peers at the public school, enriches the narrative, especially in parallel to Lu Fang's complicated relationship with her white American mother, Sloan. While both narrators make mistakes, the author's empathetic portrayal allows readers to connect with their journeys. Overall, "River East, River West" was a pleasant surprise for a debut, and a poignant exploration of identity and belonging.

[4.5 stars]

I was pleasantly surprised by how good this debut part coming of age, part untraditional family drama, and part social drama was AND the topics it covered. The story is told in dual timelines: Shanghai (2007) starring 14 year old girl Alva who is being raised by her American expat single mother and longs to move to America and Qingdao (CHING-dowe) (1985) starring Lu Dang (the landlord Alva’s mother gets engaged to) re-evaluating his future as a young newlywed amid China’s Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward. Lescure paints a vivid picture of what it’s like to go to a local Chinese high school. Then, you also get a picture of what an American International school catering to expats looks like in China. The story of Sloan (Alva’s mom) and Lu Dang is much more interesting than it appears on the surface and the book overall is more fast-paced than I expected. There's also interesting commentary on how different races and classes are viewed in China (American expats, American women, Chinese “locals,” Chinese “peasants”) and what it's like to the live under the pressure of living out a parent’s dashed dream. Note: there are some very steamy sex scenes in here.

This was a surprising, well-written, interesting story. I liked the immigration story - set in China - about expats. I liked that Chinese party and politics were included in the story as there was a lot I didn't fully know or understand. Although there are tough topics in the story, and I didn't always love the characters or their choices, but I appreciated the turns in the story I was completely drawn. Such a compelling story, it's surprising this is a debut. I will definitely look for more from this author!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Ambitious, vivid, lyrical debut novel that establishes the unique voice and perspective of the author in the realm of fiction. Well-paced and structured, a beautiful reflection of the confluence of cultures and examination of the other turned on its head.

Set in China across two separate timelines, Aube Rey Lescure's debut novel "River East, River West" delves into the intricate struggles of two generations grappling with the ramifications of ambition and the arduous quest for identity and belonging.

In 1985 Qingdao, Lu Fang confronts his own challenges as a young adult, yearning for fulfillment amidst societal expectations and personal aspirations. He grapples with the disillusionment of his youthful ambitions, wrestling with the consequences of pivotal choices that reverberate through his life.

In 2007, 14-year-old Alva resides in Shanghai, navigating the complexities of her mixed heritage as the daughter of a white American mother and an estranged Chinese father. She finds herself ensnared in a tumultuous journey after her mother's marriage to Lu Fang, a wealthy landlord. Striving for acceptance and yearning for a sense of belonging, she is drawn to the allure of the Shanghai American School and the promise of an idealized American lifestyle. However, her pursuit of connection with a newfound friend's family unveils the shadows lurking beneath the veneer of the American Dream.

Against the backdrop of China's evolving economic and cultural landscape, the novel delves into the profound ramifications of personal and financial obligations as the characters navigate the tumultuous currents of their lives. Through alternating perspectives, the narrative intricately explores themes of race, class, gender, and familial bonds.

With its innovative exploration of immigrant experiences and the complexities of coming-of-age, this ambitious novel offers a compelling and thought-provoking narrative.

The novel tells the tale of Alva, a teenager raised in China by her American mother and a distant Chinese father. When Alva's mother remarries a rich Chinese man, Alva concocts plans for a "better," more American existence. The story unfolds through intertwined timelines of Alva and her stepfather, delving into themes of adolescence, race, class, and the pursuit of a better life. I highly recommend this book and am grateful to Goodreads for the advance copy.

I really looked forward to reading this book because I’ve always been interested in Chinese society and culture.
However, I couldn’t get into this book. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters.
This book was a miss for me.

Seldom does a book come along in which this reader pretty much hates the main characters most of the way through the book. And seldom does a book with such despicable characters manage to captivate me, due to the overall themes presented and how they are handled.

Lescure has managed to turn completely on its head the ex-pat, immigrant, bi-racial storyline that often is utilized for cross cultural Chinese/American novels, and indeed real life. A novel about a disenchanted young American woman who moves to communist China during the early stages of reform presents a great backdrop for stories both personal and national. Just how much can a person reinvent herse;f? How much can an entire country? What sorts of upheavals will those persons and countries create in the lives of others with whom they intersect? Lescure has done a beautiful job of proposing answers to these sorts of issues. And, the saddest part, what of the innocent children who are caught in the crossfire, left to figure out life more or less alone because of the irresponsibility of the adults who are so self-centered? But, in the midst of all this, is there a way we can find empathy for these seemingly-despicable characters? They all have their own traumas and mistakes to live with throughout their lives. Is there a way we can find a spark of hope, decency, or good in them? Can this goodness be brought to the surface through kindness and patience? How much kindness and patience is needed? Can we find it in ourselves? Can we expect teenagers or children to be able to do so?

So depressing in so many ways, yet with a glimmer of hope. "River East, River West" utilizes the backdrop of a country and city for which I have a particular affection (Shanghai) as the stage for this drama to play out.

I really liked one of the timelines in this story and found myself rather confused by the other. Both stories are held together by one of the most opaque characters I have ever encountered. I did not understand Sloan in the slightest, which is partially the point, but I felt myself distracted by her and her choices because I just never understood them. A "reverse immigration" story is interesting and I learned a lot and found myself very immersed in the setting.

River East River West is a dual-timeline story about Alva, a young American/Chinese teenager living in Shanghai, and her Stepfather Lu Fang. The story takes place in the present day for Alva as she attends local high schools in Shanghai and deals with the aftermath of her mother's marriage to Lu Fang. We also get Lu Fang's backstory as it leads to his marriage with Sloan, Alva’s mother. However, in the present day, we never really get Lu Fang’s POV.

There is lots of cultural exploration- Alva is half- Chinese/Half American but she doesn’t know her American side even though she is raised by her American mother. She talks a lot about growing in Asia as somewhat of an outsider ( she looks mixed but speaks Chinese).

I found the story very interesting, but it was a very slow build. This was more a cultural/time exploration, and then there was Lu Fang’s story which felt more like the novel. I enjoyed the story, but it really felt like it was two separate books. The ending was interesting, but I wish we got more of Sloan/ Alva’s mother's backstory. It felt like so much was missing from the story.

Also, TW, there is scenes of sexual assault. That part was very difficult and changed the tone of the story, then it moved on, and it felt like it was being glossed over, but I think it all came together in the end

It was interesting to read about an emerging China in the late 1980s and 90s and in the early 21st century, long after the upheavals of the Mao era. The expat community grew until the western market exploded the early 2000 years, while China's economic development began to grow.

In this historical backdrop, it was interesting to follow Alva, a half Chinese-half American girl, in Shanghai, where her coming of age story unfolds with her American mother, Sloan, and her stepdad, Lu Fang. It was also interesting to see the Chinese side, with Lu Fang being the other narrator in this story, about first meeting Sloan in the 1980s, about his first family, and then meeting Sloan again around 2005 as he became a successful businessman. His fatherly interaction with and concern for Alva is rather poignant.

It seemed like karma came true for the American dad of Alva's friend, who had seduced her, a minor at age 15, at a party. Zoey's dad lost everything in the economic crash in America just at the time China was expanding economically.

I loved reading how Sloan first met Lu Fang, as young people meeting at the beach, where the strong swimmer, Sloan, taught the young Chinese man how to swim. Their relationship began and ended, only to resurface many years later. Alva, in the book, never discovers that Lu Fang was not her biological father, as suspected.

I enjoyed reading this book about the period after the main political upheavals in Chinese history.

This book had a lot of different aspects to it was pretty interesting to see how it changed from 1985 to 2007.. The girl Ali VE was the daughter of S l o a n was her mother. The book starts off with her marrying.This man named l.A f a n g. Had a lot of different affairs in shanghai but she never knew who aliyah father was. The book became really interesting.Then because aliv I went to a Chinese school where they promoted Communist.But she really wanted to go to the american school. She made up on line photography and her best friend who was g e o. That problems because his father worked in a restbut and they didn't really have a lot of money. She also lived in a nice apartment, but she was not happy.. She was a very wild child.She drank and do things. Her mother had a pass as well.She came to China because it was making movies.But you'll find out really.That wasn't the case. Her mother was trying to teach english to the Chinese.Her past was very shady.And I don't really know how this isn't till the end of the book. Your daughter eventually gets to go to the american school because she black mailed her stepfather. There are things that became really interesting because she met a girl whose father was wealthy because his company sent there.But things were really strange there. She'd like going over there because it was an American way in life.And that's all she ever dreamed about because you'd go to the mall in shanghai where all the ex patriots would hang out. Her mother knew leave home in 1985.They met a small village when he was married to another woman because he was forced to marry this woman. When they had the great. Forward in 1965.He was forced to work on a farm. He had to stop his education which was really heartbreaking for him because he really wanted to go on. His wife eventually had a son but it wasn't not a very happy marriage. You can see where things were changing but it was really hard for people to understand this. I'm gonna continue to drink even more because something happened in the book with her friend's father.. It was like a love story but it also had a lot of tragically throwing it as well. People in this book.Pretend they were something else but they really weren't.But I type a person. The ending is very strange and you'll find out how all these clues get connected together and how things worked out for apple eventually

River East, River West is a fantastic story about a family in China. Part is told by Alva in 2007 and the other part is Lu Fang in 1985. The stories alternate but do merge as time goes on. I enjoyed both equally although I found Lu Fang's heartbreaking at times. The author is a master storyteller and knows how to keep the reader interested and engaged. I know nothing about developing modern China so this was interesting and a bit eye-opening. While I did like Lu Fang, he came across as detached and distant most of the time. I did not find Alva likable at all until the final pages. This is a great book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

"River East, River West" is told in two perspectives: in 2007, Alva, the daughter of an American mom and an unknown Chinese man, grows up in Shanghai as an outsider in the Chinese city. Lu Fang, Alva's mom's new husband, has a disappointing life in the 1980s. A college student during the Cultural Revolution, he never gets his degree and finds himself at a societal disadvantage for the following decades, as well as wildly in love with Alva's mom Sloan, leading to unhappiness in his own marriage. Alva and Lu Fang are tied together not only by Sloan but also by a deep-seated conviction that life in America is better than life in China, a notion that Sloan consistently discourages.

This book is so dense in identity politics and the need for acceptance and validation.

Alva, a child of mixed lineage, detests going to her Chinese school. While she looks Chinese, having a foreign mom means she's branded as a foreigner in a country she was born and raised in. Eventually she bargains/manipulates/fights her parents to get into the international school, where she finally is just one of many and nothing special.

Lu Fang was the pride of his village his whole life and resents his mediocre life after consequences mean he never gets the international job he worked so hard for and never gets that opportunity to move out of China when he's young. His unhappiness breeds bad fortune for his wife and son before he marries into Sloan's small family.

Is this a happy book? No, but the melancholy pull of the "grass is greener" mentality Alva and Lu Fang pursue is addicting. That intense, mouth-watering feeling that you deserve so much more than what you currently have also grips this book by the throat. It's impossible to fit all of my thoughts on this book in the word limit. You won't feel good reading this but you also won't stop thinking about it afterwards.

Read if you need to escape but check the trigger warnings before you start.

This book put words to a lot of the angst I’ve felt throughout my time in Asia about expat culture. The book captures a tension between parents and kids that has me thinking a lot these days—kids are just this relatively small (but obvi important) part of their parents’ lives, and all their choices before the kid is born has ripple effects for the rest of their lives. The author is so good at weaving the two plot lines together and dropping little easter eggs for people to find along the way. I was also got to talk to Aube for @sprhdrs (link in bio!). River East, River West is one for your TBR like now, and I’m excited to see what Aube writes next!

Aube Rey Lescure's debut, River East, River West, weaves together modern-day Chinese history, mother and daughter dynamics, teenage angst, ambition, and expat life to create a rich, human story about a young girl's efforts to find her place in a rapidly changing China. I devoured this book, and especially liked Lu Fang's storyline, which successfully illustrates the challenges he faces as he navigates a new China. The setting is beautifully realized, and the characters are complex and real. A must-read.

When I finished reading this book, my first thought was that this was an interesting read and very different from what I initially expected going into it (my second thought was: This is a debut? It certainly didn’t read like one!). Given my background, I naturally gravitate toward immigrant stories (especially the ones involving immigrants from Asian countries to Western ones), where I know I will encounter experiences similar to my own – so when I read the summary for this one and saw that it would be a reversal of the traditional east-to-west immigrant story, I was definitely intrigued. Though having said that, I will admit I was also a bit concerned, as I associate “west-to-east immigrant narrative” with “story about the expatriate community in Asia” – as someone who came from a place with a long history of colonialism (the former British colony of Hong Kong), I am more than familiar with how the expat community operates and to be honest, it’s one of my least favorite things to read about (I guess you can say that I’m sick of picking up a book about an Asian country expecting to read about the local community and culture, only to find out it’s actually about expat shenanigans told from an expat perspective, with very little about the culture of the country itself). Add to that the fact that I’m also not a fan of “rich people behaving badly” stories (which is what many expat stories essentially boil down to), so of course, I was quite weary going into this one and was bracing myself for a potentially unpleasant reading experience. While there did indeed end up being quite a bit of “unpleasantness” in the story (those who’ve read this book will know what I mean), I was actually surprised by how different this one turned out from the typical expat stories that tend to glamorize the expat lifestyle. In her podcast interview with Books & Boba, the author Aube Rey Lescure talked at length about her inspiration for this book (I absolutely recommend listening to the interview after reading the book, as she provides some great insights and I actually appreciate the book a lot more than I would have otherwise) – one of the things she said that struck a chord with me is that she wrote this book not as a glamorization of the expat lifestyle, but rather, as an “anti-expat takedown” of sorts, highlighting the impact that the presence of these expats, with their indifference and condescension (and excessive, indulgent, high-riding lifestyles), had on the local Chinese community. Thinking back through the story after hearing Lescure say this, I see now that was the same sense I had gotten while reading this one, which is probably why I was able to appreciate this story more than other expat stories I’ve read.

In her interview, Lescure describes her book as a coming of age / family drama / social novel set in China, which is definitely an apt description. In her discussion with the hosts about this being an inversion of the usual east-to-west immigrant story, Lescure said that she couldn’t write the typical China to America immigrant story because that wasn’t her experience. Instead of being a story about Chinese immigrants in America, this one revolves around an American expat Sloan raising her biracial daughter Alva in modern-day (2007-2008 time period) Shanghai, China. Lescure said that her mother (who is French) separated with her father (who is Chinese) and raised her as a single mom in Shanghai – she went to the local Chinese public school for 8 years, then transferred to what she called a “budget” version of the international school for 2 years; significantly, her mother was a “renegade” who didn’t want to be part of the expat community, so their lifestyle was an unrooted one where they spent much of her childhood moving across Shanghai, renting one apartment after another. Throughout the story, Lescure included many cultural details and nuances to capture what her experience of growing up in Shanghai as a biracial teenager was like – she especially wanted to capture the granularity of her Chinese school experience and show how different it was from the international schools that the expat kids went to (fun Easter egg for those who’ve read the book: Lescure said that the test question scenario was from real life – she had answered that exact question the same way and got marked wrong…it was a moment of revelation for her about the education system in China). Something that Lescure did clarify was that even though certain elements of the story were based on her own experience, the sections about the expat community and lifestyle she actually did not experience, as those were based on what she heard from people she knew.

One of the things that stood out with this story is the way Lescure juxtaposed the two entirely different worlds – the nuances of the local Chinese community in which she grew up versus the glitz and glamor of the expat community – presenting both realistically to the point that it felt immersive. At the same time, she also interweaves the story of Lu Fang, the Chinese businessman whom Alva’s mom Sloan marries at the beginning of the story – the dual timeline narrative alternates between Alva’s perspective in the present (2007-2008) and Lu Fang’s perspective starting in 1985 and spanning decades, with both timelines ultimately converging in the present, in a way that I honestly did not see coming. In a sense, this story isn’t just about Alva’s coming of age, but also of Lu Fang’s, which I felt was an interesting way of structuring the story. I’ve mentioned in other reviews that with immigrant stories, we oftentimes get to hear from the immigrant child’s perspective, but rarely from the adults / parents’ perspectives, so I appreciated that with this story, Lescure chose to go in a different direction and give us Lu Fang’s story as well. For me, this added emotional depth to the story, especially at the end, when we find out some of the things that happened to Lu Fang and the impact this has on his relationship with Sloan and Alva.

Overall, this was a worthwhile read, though some parts will not only be difficult to stomach, but will also tick some people off (I certainly felt angry and frustrated with some of the things that happen) – of course, this means that there will be trigger warnings galore. Also, the characters aren’t too likable in here – the kids I could empathize with, but the adults (specifically the parents) I honestly could not stand (except for maybe Lu Fang at certain points in the story). Although with that said, after hearing Lescure describe her purpose for writing the characters the way she did and what she was trying to achieve by doing so, it did make me dislike them a little less.

The unlikable characters and some of the plot points aside though, another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed were the various cultural references (especially the Chinese ones), as well as the untranslated Chinese characters and phrases sprinkled throughout the story. In her interview, Lescure talks about this and mentions that the meanings of most of the Chinese words can be picked up from context (this is true, as majority of the Chinese was either translated or explained), but there are a few instances where only readers who know the Chinese language will pick up on (like the scene near the end with the Chinese poem, which was actually my favorite scene from the story). I always enjoy coming across things I recognize in books that I read – it makes the reading experience more fun and engaging (and the difficult aspects a tad more tolerable).

If you decide to pick this one up, I definitely recommend also listening to the author’s Books & Boba interview, as it puts the entire book in greater perspective. Like I mentioned earlier, I came to appreciate the book on a much different level than I would have otherwise.

Received ARC from William Morrow via NetGalley.

Thank you William Morrow for accepting my request to read and review River East, River West on NetGalley.

Stars: 3


This was okay. There were many scenes throughout that were difficult to read and imagining the action left me sick. The prejudices of Chinese versus Chinese-American are portrayed. In addition the wealthy versus poor. Educational opportunities of those who pay are shown and their interactions with a scholarship student. These are some examples. There are sexual exploits interspersed.

Overall I found this was too heavy for the time I chose to read it. In another head space, I don't think my rating would change; I didn't like the characters or the story. I did appreciate the historical aspects.


Published: 01/09/24

This book is so much better than expected. The description from the publisher tells you the basics of the story. It does not sound like a page turner, but I had a hard time putting it down.