Worth a Read Maybe
Length 256
Quick Review A collection of short stories exploring family, love, and identity for a generation of Chinese.
Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang is a collection of incredibly moving short stories oscillating between depressing, funny, tragic, and cringy.
There is a lot going on in this little book. The short stories in Home Remedies are divided up into three sections: Family, Love, Time and Space. The first story does a great job setting the tone of the book. It’s serious and pulls the reader into the book. There is no way you can put the book down once you start reading.
One of the most impactful scenes in the entire book is a scene on page 89. It made me angry, uncomfortable, and feeling a little gross. Good writers don’t shy away from the tough topics, and Wang dove right into the difficult stuff throughout all of Home Remedies. There is never a moment she doesn’t shy away from the human topics. Life is complex and difficult, and Wang captures these moments in her short stories. It focuses on a generation of people in China and Chinese immigrants.
Wang bridges a gap. Giving a voice and story to people who have had very little representation in the Western world. Wang helps define people as human and not by their culture, skin color, or place of birth. Things may be different on the surface, but deep down humans all have similar desires, feelings, and experiences.
Wang’s debut book, Home Remedies, will be available May 14, 2019, and it’s going to make an impression.
Memorable Quotes
“Love could be a burden, too.”
“She was keenly aware of time lines, expiration dates of food, the shelf life of flowering plants, and the appropriateness of behavior at any given age.”
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Title: Home Remedies
Author: Xuan Juliana Wang
Publisher: Hogarth
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781984822741
