6 new reads mark a wide span of voices, cultures
AMEMOIR about a transgender pageant queen leaving the Philippines for the Big Apple; a historical novel about a ruthless Chinese pirate queen; a poetic memoir about growing up in a Chinese restaurant on the Jersey Shore. These are just a few of the stories hitting bookshelves this month to coincide with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a crop of buzzy books that demonstrates the talent and range of Asian American voices and cultures. They’re also great reads. To accompany features on two standout novels, R. F. Kuang’s “Yellowface” and Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes’ “Hula,” here are six more books that belong on your list.
Hanover Suare: 238 pages, $30
In Luo’s debut novel, an assault brings together three Americans whose perspectives are braided throughout: Tony Zhang, a Dalian-born engineer who moves his family to New York; his daughter Tammy, whom we watch grow up and attend Harvard; and Oliver, a dreamy white lawyer who’s kind of a jerk. The story spans three decades, interrogating what it means to be an American for each and exploring the way their lives intersect and change.
THE COVENANT OF WATER By Abraham Verghese Grove: 736 pages, $32
Fans of the 2009 bestseller “Cutting for Stone” have been waiting for Verghese to write another book. It’s here and it’s an Oprah’s Book Club pick. Spanning seven decades, “The Covenant of Water” is set on South India’s Malabar Coast, following three generations as they try to make sense of their family curse: death by drowning. The story begins by introducing family matriarch Big Ammachi when she is a 12-year-old bride traveling by boat to meet her 40-year-old husband. Verghese’s epic brings to life an India of yore, encompassing passion and tragedy.
A HISTORY OF BURNING By Janika Oza Grand Central: 400 pages, $29
Oza’s Indo-Ugandan family saga opens with 13-year-old Pirbhai leaving his home to work for the British on the East African Railway in 1898. There he’s asked to commit a heinous act and, out of desperation, he does. This sets off a ripple effect that will hit generations of his family, whom we follow over the better part of a century. In 1972, brutal dictator Idi Amin orders the exile of Asians from