Lydia Lee, the middle daughter,
disappears. Was she kidnapped, murdered; did she run away; did she
commit suicide? The family has no answers when they wake up and find Lydia missing. She was the perfect daughter trying to realize her
parents dreams. Her mother wanted her to become a doctor, a wish her
mother was unable to fulfill. Her father wanted her to be popular
because he felt like an outcast. But Lydia can't realize her parents
dreams. She's a different person.
On the positive side, the author
understands the stresses of mixed race families, in this case Asian
and American. I found her psychological insights perceptive. On the
negative side, her understanding of story structure is poor. In the
opening of the novel, Lydia has disappeared. No one knows why. The
assumption is that she has been murdered. Nathan, her older brother,
suspects Jack, the neighborhood bad boy, but no one can prove it, and
Jack says he knows nothing.
After setting up the story as a murder
mystery, the author takes a several page digression into the history
of Lydia's parents' lives. It stops the story dead. If you're
fascinated by the dynamics of a mixed race household, it's perfectly
in keeping with the theme, but if you're expecting a murder mystery,
it doesn't produce the expected attempt by the family and police to
solve the mystery.
I thought the author did an excellent
job with the psychological aspects of the novel, but if you're
looking for a mystery, give this a miss.
I reviewed this book for Net Galley.
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