Thanks to Hanover Square Press for the copy of this book!

Add Paper Names to your list of must-read books of 2023. I sat down thinking I’d sample a chapter of a few books to see what I’d read next, and ended up reading half of this book instead!

Paper Names is a compelling story of a Chinese-American family (Tony/Tongheng & Kim/Kuan-yin and their daughter, Tammy/Tianfei) and their experiences as immigrants in New York City - one experience which intertwines their family’s lives with that of a privileged white lawyer, Oliver.

Told from the perspectives of Tony, Tammy, and Oliver over decades, we really get a 360-degree look at all the events that unfurl and really get to dig into privilege, family, loyalty, ceilings, and justice. I was so engrossed in this story from the start, but then toward the end - OH MY GOSH - I was getting physically anxious at the events that started unfurling. Throwing in a POV of a white male with a trust fund was genius on Susie Lou’s part. Susie also went through an event from one character’s perspective, then in the next chapter, went over that event from a different character’s POV with a slightly shifted the timeline. It worked so well and is really masterful storytelling - I can’t believe this is a debut!

Read if you:
- read and loved Beautiful Country
- learned how to play It’s All Coming Back to Me Now on the piano in the 90s
- appreciate multiple POVs
- want to learn more about the Chinese-American experience
- want to support a BIPOC debut