A Novel
by Kathryn Ma
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jan 2023
304 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Anne Tyler meets Jade Chang in this buoyant, good-hearted, and sharply written novel about a blithely optimistic immigrant with big dreams, dire prospects, and a fractured extended family in need of his help—even if they don't know it yet.
Eighteen-year-old Shelley, born into a much-despised branch of the Zheng family in Yunnan Province and living in the shadow of his widowed father's grief, dreams of bigger things. Buoyed by an exuberant heart and his cousin Deng's tall tales about the United States, Shelley heads to San Francisco to claim his destiny, confident that any hurdles will be easily overcome by the awesome powers of the "Chinese groove," a belief in the unspoken bonds between countrymen that transcend time and borders.
Upon arrival, Shelley is dismayed to find that his "rich uncle" is in fact his unemployed second cousin once removed and that the grand guest room he'd envisioned is but a scratchy sofa. The indefinite stay he'd planned for? That has a firm two-week expiration date. Even worse, the loving family he hoped would embrace him is in shambles, shattered by a senseless tragedy that has cleaved the family in two. They want nothing to do with this youthful bounder who's barged into their lives. Ever the optimist, Shelley concocts a plan to resuscitate his American dream by insinuating himself into the family. And, who knows, maybe he'll even manage to bring them back together in the process.
"This rollicking contemporary picaresque about a young Chinese man's adventures in 2015 America offers a fresh take on the Chinese immigrant experience while confronting universal issues surrounding family, grief, and how to define success...Ma knows how to twist a plot in unexpected, deeply satisfying directions by writing with compassion, humor, and insight." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Balancing humor and poignancy with seemingly effortless ease, Ma is a magnificent storyteller... Shelley's teenage naivete will entertain, while his tenacity and loyalty will surely inspire." - Booklist (starred review)
"Ma returns with the vibrant story of a Chinese immigrant living in present-day San Francisco...This immersive story is worth a look." - Publishers Weekly
"Kathryn Ma's The Chinese Groove is terrific in every way: smart, warm, witty, keenly observed, and best of all, refreshing, as she meditates on love, hope, and what it means to be a family." - Natalie Baszile, author of Queen Sugar and We Are Each Other's Harvest
"By turns picaresque and poignant, Kathryn Ma's The Chinese Groove is an utterly original exploration of the Chinese diaspora, pondering the ancestral ties that span between China and San Francisco. Shelley is a poet and would-be striver with an indelible voice. A marvel." - Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City
"I love what Kathryn Ma has done in The Chinese Groove. As the plot follows the scams and counter-scams of Zheng Xue Li's life in America, its lovely satirical edge is without meanness and it has much to say about stereotype, deception, and family battles. It's an astute novel, in which every character's stubbornness unfolds a fabulous story. A joy to read." - Joan Silber, author of Secrets of Happiness
This information about The Chinese Groove was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kathryn Ma is the author of the widely praised novel The Year She Left Us, which was named a New York Times Editors' Choice and an NPR "Great Read" of the year. Her short story collection, All That Work and Still No Boys, won the Iowa Short Fiction Award and was named a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Discoveries Book. She is also a recipient of the David Nathan Meyerson Prize for Fiction and has twice been named a San Francisco Public Library Laureate.
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