The Family Chao: Audiobook

My Thoughts:

This audiobook kept me company as I cleaned out my apartment and made the drives back and forth from work to the two different houses.  I did not know prior to listening that this was inspired by The Brothers Karamazov, but the pacing, and the way the characters seem stuck to the environment does seem more like Russian literature. 

I enjoyed the seven plus hours of going through this mystery even though the mystery still remains a mystery to me. However, the three stars is more because this is not really for my audience. It just so happened that I had time to immerse myself in this and was not really concerned about getting to some kind of conclusion. In addition, the youngest son, James was a bit immature and underwhelming of the three brothers. 

What I appreciate about this book is the ability of the author to take a story, like the Brothers Karamazov and filter it through a time, place and culture that is wholly different. I would like to see this as a movie. It will stand up against other "remakes" like Kurosawa's Ran a medieval Japanese revisioning of Shakespeare's King Lear. 

From the Publisher:

The residents of Haven, Wisconsin, have dined on the Fine Chao restaurant’s delicious Americanized Chinese food for thirty-five years, content to ignore any unsavory whispers about the family owners. Whether or not Big Leo Chao is honest, or his wife, Winnie, is happy, their food tastes good and their three sons earned scholarships to respectable colleges. But when the brothers reunite in Haven, the Chao family’s secrets and simmering resentments erupt at last.

Before long, brash, charismatic, and tyrannical patriarch Leo is found dead—presumed murdered—and his sons find they’ve drawn the exacting gaze of the entire town. The ensuing trial brings to light potential motives for all three brothers: Dagou, the restaurant’s reckless head chef; Ming, financially successful but personally tortured; and the youngest, gentle but lost college student James. As the spotlight on the brothers tightens—and the family dog meets an unexpected fate—Dagou, Ming, and James must reckon with the legacy of their father’s outsized appetites and their own future survival.

Brimming with heartbreak, comedy, and suspense, The Family Chao offers a kaleidoscopic, highly entertaining portrait of a Chinese American family grappling with the dark undercurrents of a seemingly pleasant small town.

Publication information:

Author: Lan Samantha Chang

Narrator: Brian Nishii

Recorded Books, Inc. February 1, 2022