With the heaviness of things lately, I needed a good light read where the heroine overcomes challenges with the help of her family and community. This is that book. It’s a genre that I’m beginning to enjoy more, magical realism. The magical is subtly woven into the story, so it’s not leaping out at you shouting HERE THERE BE MAGICK!
Natalie Tan returns home to San Francisco’s Chinatown on the occasion of her agoraphobiac mother’s death on the sidewalk outside her home over the long-closed family restaurant. They have been estranged for years after a falling out about Natalie’s desire to be a chef, like her grandmother. Natalie has been on the run since, living a peripatetic life running around the globe looking for escape. She is not happy to be back in the suffocating embrace of her growing up years.
After the funeral, she finds a letter from her mother in the kitchen. This letter raises and answers a lot of questions she had about why things got so tough. She meets with her mother’s friends and one of them has her grandmother’s original recipes. This book is not what it seems, and it holds the keys to Natalie’s entire future. She decides to reopen the restaurant, and is told she needs to cook three recipes from the cookbook to help three people in the community: that will seal the success of the restaurant. She does this, with interesting results, and even more interesting outcomes. The recipes from her grandmothers book are interspersed in the writing, and they sounded delicious.
There is a romantic interest but that it doesn’t fully develop, which is a minor knock on an otherwise enjoyable story. I would have liked more explanation of some of the magical plot points, but some didn’t need explaining.
This is a light read about family, culture, what we owe our community, and what we owe ourselves. I liked it, and it’s what I needed to read right now. I will likely seek out other books from this author.
The Amy Experience 
i can’t wait to read this! Sounds wonderful!
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