The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang is a modern reimagining of the novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879) by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881). The plot of Dostoevsky's book centers around a family of three brothers — Dmitri, Ivan and Alexei (aka Alyosha) — and the murder of their father, Fyodor Karamazov. As Dmitri and his father have been in conflict over Dmitri's inheritance and their mutual attraction to the same woman, he becomes the prime suspect in the crime, and the end of the novel features his trial.

Each of the brothers represents an archetype: Dmitri is a hedonist ruled by emotion; Ivan is an intellectual; and Alexei is a deeply pious Christian, committed to living an ascetic lifestyle in a monastery. Through these characters' interactions with one another, Dostoevsky explores some of the paradoxes of Christian belief. Ivan, for instance, wonders if there is any reason to live a moral life if there is no God and no heavenly reward. Alexei has a ...