Lan Samantha Chang holds the position of Director of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in Iowa City. She has published three books: Hunger, a collection of short stories, All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost, her latest novel, published in 2010, and her second book and first novel, Inheritance. I won an advance reading copy of All is Forgotten at a conference. I had never heard of Chang, but the novel involved an English Professor and some poetry students, so I read it and reviewed it July of 2010. Somehow, her other two books I ordered at the time, became lost in a pile. While straightening it out a couple of weeks ago, I came across them. Since I needed a nice solid paperback for a flight to Philly, I began Inheritance on the plane. I am glad I did, because this sweeping novel of four generations of Chinese women was interesting, exciting, with lots of psychological insights into Asian customs – particularly regarding courtship and marriage.

As I have done with several books lately, I made a family tree to keep all the relationships straight. Chanyi marries Wang Daming and produces two daughters, Junan and Yinan. These two sisters are extremely close, but are torn apart when they both fall in love with the same man, Li Ang, who marries Junan. Yinan is rather plain, but when Junan is separated from her husband by war, she remains home to protect her children, and she sends Yinan to “keep house” for Li Ang. An affair destroys the sisterly bonds.

Li Ang has a brother, Bing Ang, and these two find themselves on opposite sides following World War II. Li becomes a general in the Nationalist Chinese Army, and Bing becomes a colonel in the Communist Chinese Army.

The novel is narrated by Xaio Hong, Junan and Li Ang’s daughter. Xaio’s sister, Hwa, marries Pu Li and Xaio has a baby with Hu Ran, son of her mother’s servant. This shames Junan. The families flee Mainland China in 1949. Hu Ran stays behind along with Li Ang, Yinan, and Bing Li. Xaio and Hwa move to America, but live on different coasts -- Hwa in San Francisco and Xaio in New York. Xaio marries Tom Marquez, and she has two daughters.

This really interesting story of four generations of women shows how times and cultural influences warp and waft relationships – sometimes to the breaking point. Chang’s writing is smooth and calm as the emotions of these women in the story.

Hong frequently recalls advice she received from her mother. For example, Chang writes:

“My mother once warned me not to be too proud of how much I could see. I believe it wasn’t pride but righteous curiosity that made me strive to notice things. Curiosity mingled with a need to uncover what flowed beneath our household calm, a hidden source of pain that wasn’t mentioned. I had seen it in my grandfather, his hair a shock of white, his gaze sliding away as if the sunlight hurt his eyes. I had seen it in my solitary aunt. Now, in the aftermath of Yao’s birth, I could see it in my mother. It wasn’t a ghost. My mother worked to keep it hidden, yet it didn’t disappear. Nothing could vanquish it: not Hwa’s devotion nor my good grades in school; not even my mother’s growing stash of jewelry and gold” (182).

Chang’s Inheritance will appear high on my list of the best of 2012. 5 stars

--Jim, 8/10/12 ( )

A fortune teller's prediction for 2 Chinese girls living in a country on the brink of major change. I found myself reading this very quickly, finishing in bed late last night.

The Wang family are a wealthy Chinese family with Republic links, something which will affect them strongly in the turbulent times ahead. The book is about women, strong women, but with strengths in different areas. ( )

Read this book because I am leading book discussion in anticipation of author visit in May for Out Loud! author series. It was very good, Chang's writing is lovely -- I always enjoy a book that is well-written. The story was fascinating. I have read a little of a few Chinese authors and it always strikes me how astonishingly different the Chinese culture is, also it always seems the people in the stories are not generally joyful, that they lead largely sad and oppressed lives. This book was no exception, certainly. It followed the lives of two sisters through several generations and mostly through the eyes of the older sister's older daughter; through war and revolution and personal struggles. I guess in most books, it's the struggle and problems that make the story compelling, but I do wish I could have a sense that there is also joy. ( )

Inheritance is a family saga told through years and generations in China during the period surrounding Communist takeover. The one big annoyance for me in this book was the use of Mandarin Chinese terms when English words could have been used. Even though I could understand the words used, it was off putting and most likely more so for those who don't speak the language. ( )

Given that the author is the new director of the Iowa Writers Workshop, I was surprised that the story was told from only one perspective, much of it in third person, in strictly chronological order--nothing cutting edge about the style. And it's a familiar formula that follows 3 generations of women & the relationships between mothers & daughters & the women & their men. But it is a very compelling story set mostly in the years leading up to China's Communist Revolution. Once again I wonder why there are so many good books set during the Chinese Revolution & none that I've found set during the Cuban Revolution. ( )