“A globe-trotting, whirlwind, tragi-comic family saga that wrings tears from absurdity and laughter from loss. A joy to read from start to finish.” — Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less, winner of the 2018 Pulitzer PrizeThe Nest meets Crazy Rich Asians in this sharp comedic novel about a Chinese-American family’s attempts (or not) to fulfill its dying patriarch’s final bequest.Some of us are … attempts (or not) to fulfill its dying patriarch’s final bequest.
Some of us are more equal than others….
Meet Stanley Huang: father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable tastes and temper, aficionado of all-inclusive vacations and bargain luxury goods, newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For years, Stanley has claimed that he’s worth a small fortune. But the time is now coming when the details of his estate will finally be revealed, and Stanley’s family is nervous.
For his son Fred, the inheritance Stanley has long alluded to would soothe the pain caused by years of professional disappointment. By now, the Harvard Business School graduate had expected to be a financial tech god – not a minor investor at a middling corporate firm, where he isn’t even allowed to fly business class.
Stanley’s daughter, Kate, is a middle manager with one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious tech companies. She manages the capricious demands of her world-famous boss and the needs of her two young children all while supporting her would-be entrepreneur husband (just until his startup gets off the ground, which will surely be soon). But lately, Kate has been sensing something amiss; just because you say you have it all, it doesn’t mean that you actually do.
Stanley’s second wife, Mary Zhu, twenty-eight years his junior, has devoted herself to making her husband comfortable in every way—rubbing his feet, cooking his favorite dishes, massaging his ego. But lately, her commitment has waned; caring for a dying old man is far more difficult than she expected.
Linda Liang, Stanley’s first wife, knows her ex better than anyone. She worked hard for decades to ensure their financial security, and is determined to see her children get their due. Single for nearly a decade, she might finally be ready for some romantic companionship. But where does a seventy-two year old Chinese woman in California go to find an appropriate boyfriend?
As Stanley’s death approaches, the Huangs are faced with unexpected challenges that upend them and eventually lead them to discover what they most value. A compelling tale of cultural expectations, career ambitions and our relationships with the people who know us best, Family Trust skewers the ambition and desires that drive Silicon Valley and draws a sharply loving portrait of modern American family life.
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A globe-trotting, whirlwind, tragi-comic family saga that wrings tears from absurdity and laughter from loss. A joy to read from start to finish.
Family Trust reads like a brilliant mashup of The Nest and Crazy Rich Asians (with a soupçon of Arrested Development for good measure). It’s dark and funny and entertaining and thoughtful all at once. The best kind of family drama. I loved every page.
The world of FLOOD GIRLS, unlike any I’d lived (novel-wise) captured me. Phenom writing, heart-breakers of characters, a world I did not want to leave.
I usually enjoy novels like this one (family dramas) especially when there is a cultural element to them. Try as I could I just could not fully get into this one, and wound up abandoning it partially through. I kept waiting for it to improve. The storyline — a Chinese man dying of cancer and his grown children connecting to him during this time seemed good, and it was billed as a dark comedy. I found little comedic about it, and honestly did not like most of the characters (including the main character Stanley, his son and the schemes he has. Poor Fred, only making in the 300s and not millions) and even Kate, the most likable of the children. While you may have a different reaction, and several of the reviews enjoyed this, I did not at all.
The ultra-modern family grapples with loyalty, honesty, virtue rewarded and scores settled. It’s also tender and heartfelt. Recommended!
An engrossing exploration of family, loyalty, ambition, and the rewards of honesty and generosity. Read this book!
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
Irene Gordon
This was a great story about an unusual family. Unique plot twists.
Perspective into Chinese American values.
An entertaining, well told story that unfolds at the right pace. Keeps you guessing about the ending.
Favorite Quotes:
Erika didn’t like most ethnic restaurants, and in particular the cheap authentic ones, an admission that in native Bay Area circles was viewed with the same muted horror as Holocaust denial or the use of trans fats.
…her fingers flew past an array of the graying and bald. “Here’s someone I went on a date with last week,” she said. “But he was only interested in, you know, a nurse with a purse.”
Do not speak to her again. Someone like that, you end all communication, immediately. Witches feed off attention. Take away the broom, they can’t fly. All right?
Linda was satisfied to note that Teddy, the alleged future husband of Shirley Chang, was at least the same height if not shorter than Winston and had the same pitch-black pomade hairstyle—it must be a trend with older Asian men, she thought, just like how all the women simultaneously emerged with the same enormous perms after sixty.
My Review:
This book was a bit uneven for me, but maybe it was just flying several levels over my head as I have zero interest in venture capitalism or corporate lifestyles as those topics are more than my tiny brain can comprehend and tends to scorch the little pea inside. However, I seem to quickly queue up for all the snark and salacious details mined from this unusual family’s tangled secrets and snide inner musings. The storylines were complex and highly nuanced with generous servings of razor-sharp wit and eviscerating observations. It was well worth wading through the more tedious detritus of their obsessive financial wranglings to get to their peculiar predicaments and curiously confounding choices. They seemed overly driven and nearly consumed with amassing status and money, and how they were being seen while doing so. The vast majority of this large and oddly intriguing cast of characters were rather vile, although Stanley was full-on heinous. I was equally repulsed and fascinated, and couldn’t quite seem to get enough or a full grasp of what was transpiring – what does that say about me? I have not yet read Crazy Rich Asians, and while I really wish I had, I also know I’d actually rather be one.