Another book I wish had made the shortlist over some other selections for the Giller Prize, tbh.

Beautifully written and surprisingly rich in complexity, this tale of a family fractured in pursuit of their own individual autonomy and the invisible chords that bind them forever was very compelling.

The narrative follows a married couple in China through the cultural Revolution to a more contemporary time (roughly, sometime in the 80s, I believe). Each of the couple have a complicated past and their intimacy mixed with estrangement due to their partnership tests them in ways that become apparent as the narrative goes back and forth between past and present for each of them, as well as their child, left behind in China as each parent attempts to carve their own respective paths in the world.

This was really effective at showing the motivations for each character via their past at very apt times in the overall narrative. It makes a book with not all that much plot feel much more dense while also dolling out information, mostly cultural, in an easily internalized manner that could have been an infodump that was forgotten or, perhaps, overwhelming. The framing is also very precise. I don’t want to spoil the fun of reading this book much, so I’ve been necessarily vague. But the arrangement of the plot beats is excellent and could have been reframed so as to cast a light onto either parent that would have given a completely different impression of them. I think it was very well handled. It also forms a sort of synchronicity with the through line of music, which is very satisfying.

I think a lot of westerners don’t “get” the notion of grandparents raising grandchildren either. Willfully, or otherwise misconstruing the cultural context. This does a great job of showing why this is fairly common place in a way that feels full of heart and withholds judgement either way. It also empowers the mother character extremely well. Again, feeling non-judgmental and allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions without feeling like a thumb on the scale.

Very enjoyable, certainly recommend it. The narration was also quite good if you go with the audiobook, as I did.