by Simon Han
Overall: a quiet, beautiful novel about a family of four living in suburban America. Patty and Liang met in China; she was a physics student, and he was a struggling photographer. After their son Jack was born, Patty moved to Houston to pursue her studies, with Liang moving to join her later and Jack being reunited with his parents later still. Told from the perspectives of eleven-year-old Jack, Patty, Liang, and five-year-old Annabel, their child born in the U.S., the narrative covers several months in the family’s life from 2003 to 2004 in Plano, Texas. The first half of this book reminded me so much of Mrs. Dalloway: a family preparing for a party with buried trauma and secrets threatening to erupt into view. If you’ve ever suffered through disrupted sleep or struggled with insomnia, sleepwalking, or night terrors, this book will have particular resonance. Han renders each character’s emotional life with depth, unflinching detail, and nuance.
Likes: All the characters are complex. Liang and Patty’s inner lives as adults are fully realized, but so are Jack’s and Annabel’s, which I think is far more of a challenge. Han especially shines at capturing the distorted view a child may develop of the world through overheard, partially understood words. The title is especially clever, as the “nothing” changes in significance multiple times.
Dislikes: really nothing. This is a deliberately quiet book that’s a slow burn, so definitely wait until you’re in the right mood.
FYI: There are oblique references to childhood trauma and possible suicide.
Liz Helfrich 