My Review of “Number One Chinese Restaurant” by Lillian Li

My Review of “Number One Chinese Restaurant” by Lillian Li,  Henry Holt and Co. June 2018

“Number One Chinese Restaurant” by Lillian Li is an enjoyable and entertaining read. The Genres  for this novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction.  I appreciate that the author uses dark humor and some interesting descriptions of the cast of characters, traditional restaurant atmosphere and food. The Beijing Duck House in Maryland, is where we are introduced to many of the characters. The timeline of the story is mostly in the present and goes to the past only when necessary to explain the characters or events. When a tragedy occurs, there are major events that unfold.

The author describes the characters as complex , complicated and dysfunctional. This is a story of  multi-generational family and other characters. We see that both the young characters and the aged characters, each have their own sets of problems, and at times seem worlds apart. Within the family, there are secrets, jealousy, betrayals and lack of communication.

I would recommend this intriguing novel  to those readers that enjoy reading about family dynamics, and family business.