The End of East: A Novel

"A beautifully crafted . . . provocative . . . deeply moving" portrait of a family living in Vancouver's Chinatown is "an homage to Amy Tan's generational tales" (The Baltimore Sun). At age eighteen, Seid Quan is the first in the Chan family to emigrate from China to Vancover in 1913. Paving the way for a wife and son, he is profoundly lonely, even as he joins the Chinatown community. Weaving in and out of the past and the present, The End of East pieces together the spellbinding tale of Seid Quan's family: his wife Shew Lin, whose hope for her family are threatened by her own misguided actions; his son Pon Man, who struggles with obligation and desire; his daughter-in-law Siu Sang, who tries to be the caregiver everyone expects, even as she feels herself unraveling; and his granddaughter Sammy, embroiled in a volatile mixture of seduction, grief, and duty. The End of East sets family conflicts against the backdrop of Vancouver's Chinatown—a city within a city where dreams are shattered as quickly as they're built. "The truth that imbues every line of Jen Sookfong Lee's The End of East is so coruscating that we must look away. And yet she will not let us, and so we cannot." —Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times–bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean "An emotional powerhouse of a novel . . .calls to mind Ishiguro's Booker Prize winner The Remains of the Day. This is a book that can sit on a shelf of novels by Ondaatje, Atwood, and Laurence." —Halifax ChronicleHerald "Compelling and complex." —The Globe and Mail "Impressive. . . . Lee's talent is undeniable." —National Post "Strong, evocative . . . a wonderful novel." —Booklist

© 2024 Thomas Dunne Books (Ebook): 9781429989503

Release date

Ebook: 4 September 2024