Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

  This book is about a Chinese-American couple in the 60's and 70's that struggles with discrimination and its devastating impact on their lives. The story begins with the loss of their oldest daughter, then backtracks to tell of how the parents met, married and raised their family. The type of discrimination that affects them is not only prejudice against Asians, but against women. The family is seriously dysfunctional and the way it impacts the children is heart-rending.

 

The story is told variously from the viewpoints of all the family members, and we learn the thoughts and feelings that they kept hidden from each other with disastrous results.

The book was well-written and gripping from beginning to end. The author made the voices of each character seem very authentic. Though I didn't like some of their actions, I was able to see a little of what led them to act as they did.

This isn't an easy read, or a fun read, but is very thought-provoking. I highly recommend it.