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A review by dreesreads
Bone by Fae Myenne Ng
4.0
This novel is narrated by Leila, the oldest of three sisters of Chinese immigrant parents (she is raised by her stepfather Leon, her sisters' father--her father, who convinced her mother to emigrate, now lives in Australia). Ona, the middle sister, jumped off a building a year earlier, and the family is preparing to recognize the one-year anniversary of her death.
Lei is still trying to understand why Ona felt the need to jump. And this book is her running over their childhood with Leon and Mah, he away for a month at a time on ships, she a seamstress. The failed businesses, schemes, and inventions of Leon. How like Leon Ona was in many ways. The girls' relationships with men, her own moving in with her boyfriend and youngest sister Nina's move to New York. The story moves from present to past to present, and I was a little confused in several sections and had to re-read to figure out when the chapters were. In the course of the book, Lei comes to understand why Ona was so despondent, and only wishes she would have spoken to her, or Nina, or Mah.
I enjoyed the peek at Chinatown San Francisco in the 1980s (that's a guess based on the cars, other details, and pub date of the book). The street names, the restaurants, the basements, the quick walk into North Beach for coffee, the bridges, the names and histories of other characters (Peruvian Chinese immigrants; and Principal Lagomarsino--a Val Fontanabuona name, and thus also a very North Beach name). I spent a fair amount of time in SF in the late 80s/early 90s, and it took me right back. Even the phone booth.
Lei is still trying to understand why Ona felt the need to jump. And this book is her running over their childhood with Leon and Mah, he away for a month at a time on ships, she a seamstress. The failed businesses, schemes, and inventions of Leon. How like Leon Ona was in many ways. The girls' relationships with men, her own moving in with her boyfriend and youngest sister Nina's move to New York. The story moves from present to past to present, and I was a little confused in several sections and had to re-read to figure out when the chapters were. In the course of the book, Lei comes to understand why Ona was so despondent, and only wishes she would have spoken to her, or Nina, or Mah.
I enjoyed the peek at Chinatown San Francisco in the 1980s (that's a guess based on the cars, other details, and pub date of the book). The street names, the restaurants, the basements, the quick walk into North Beach for coffee, the bridges, the names and histories of other characters (Peruvian Chinese immigrants; and Principal Lagomarsino--a Val Fontanabuona name, and thus also a very North Beach name). I spent a fair amount of time in SF in the late 80s/early 90s, and it took me right back. Even the phone booth.