Homeseeking by Karissa Chen had me bawling like a baby and staring at the wall debating the meaning of life. It was such a touching and heartbreaking Historical Fiction. One I believe just may be added to my top favorite books of the year. Let’s talk about what I think about this debut novel.
Synopsis
Homeseeking is an epic story spanning centuries and follows the lives of two star-crossed lovers Haiwen and Suchi separated by the ravages of war and political upheaval. We witness young Haiwen and Suchi turn from childhood friends to lovers with their entire lives ahead of them. Until family tragedy strikes Haiwen and he decides to enlist in the Nationalist army to take his brother’s place their lives dissect destroying the future they planned.
Separated by time and distance each must navigate their new life as they both struggle with the political unrest in their country which will lead to Suchi leaving for safety purposes and Haiwen unable to return due to political tensions.
Aside from one chance encounter in Hong Kong, it isn’t until sixty years later in Los Angeles, California that their paths will cross again. And, only when they confront their past hurt and trauma will they be able to move forward and grasp a second chance.
Review
There’s a major part of me that can’t believe this is a Debut Novel. Chen writes with such grace and authority weaving a strong narrative and engrossing story that will leave readers mesmerized and emotionally weak.
Content🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
In an interview, Karissa Chen states that this book was inspired by her grandfather’s story of being barred from his homeland and not being able to see his mother again before she passed. It is from this that she began to research and write her novel. And what a powerful and emotional family saga it is!
You can tell she took care in researching and structuring this story. Everything about it feels so real and palpable. The imagery is rich and immersive allowing the reader to feel they’re walking the streets of Shanghai with the characters.
There was a wealth of themes and topics discussed in this novel making it such an impactful and emotional experience. She also does a terrific job of exploring the complexities and nuances of China and the impact of the Chinese Civil War. Additionally, we also see how war and political tensions wreak havoc on the citizens, and families’ livelihoods destroying communities and ways of life.
She also explores how racial identity and culture were suppressed during Japan’s occupation of China as well as China’s occupation of Taiwan.
“Sometimes I think you forget who I am. You married a Taiwanese woman. I’m Taiwanese. I didn’t grow up in China, I wasn’t born there. I’d never even met a person from China until you all came over. My whole life, everyone in authority they forced us to be more like them. First the Japanese, then you lot. Demanding we change our language, our customs, our clothes, telling us this would make us more civilized, more cultured. When I was younger, I believed it too, I was so desperate to seem more educated, more cultivated. I wanted to be deserving of the storied Chinese empire my mainlander teacher kept talking about; I wanted to shed my Taiwaneseness.”
This quote so brilliantly explains the struggle of the Taiwanese as it pertained to their racial and cultural identity as they dealt with the Chinese occupation and their desire to achieve reunification with China and how they continually tried to erase their culture by forcing them to assimilate into their culture and way of thinking and living.
We also learn the rich variances between languages and how many Chinese were forced to assimilate into other cultures to survive and try to make a life. Additionally, we explore the sexism and misogyny that was common during this time and the challenges unmarried women faced trying to work and live independently from a man.
Lastly, we get chronic illness representation and how trying it can be to be a lower-class citizen with a chronic condition struggling with chronic pain and symptoms seeking a proper diagnosis only to be met with judgment and bias.
Writing Style 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Chen’s writing style was amazing. She was descriptive and provided excellent imagery allowing the reader to immerse themself into the story creating an emotional experience. I also enjoyed the way the story was structured with alternating timelines where Haiwen’s story and timeline are told from the present day to the beginning of the story and for Suchi it starts in the past and works up to the future.
Having the story told in this way allows you to connect with both characters and better understand their motives and the consequences of their decisions and actions. It also did a brilliant job of exploring the devastating effects of the war and how it cost both of them not only their future together but their future with their families and the dreams they wanted to pursue.
“Suchi had been a memory that sometimes felt realer than reality, a path not taken, a regret he couldn’t reconcile. Now she was actually real. He could breathe her back into his world with one phone call.”
I love this quote because it shows Haiwen’s conflicting emotions his deep love and affection for Suchi his longing to right his perceived wrong of abandoning her to serve in the Nationalist army.
Also, this technique created balance for this story. Since there are heavy themes explored in this story the reader can easily become overwhelmed with emotion making it a slog to get through. However, the time spent in the present timeline allows you to see how things do work out for the characters and they’re not stuck or trapped in those desperate and challenging situations. This gives the reader a sense of hope and something to look forward to.
Readability 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Homeseeking was easy to read and an overall enjoyable reading experience. The prose was evocative and descriptive. The structure and flow of sentences were short and simple making it easy to read and fly through the text.
Additionally, I appreciated the author including a note explaining her choice to stay true to the language and context of the book by showing how characters’ names would change depending on formality, location, and languages they were spoken in. She explained how as many Chinese people sought asylum or fled to Hong Kong or America or even during Japanese occupancy they would change their name to fit the language and culture they were living in.
I also felt the vocabulary struck a beautiful balance of including traditional terms from Chinese culture both historical and contemporary. This didn’t take away from the story or make it difficult to enjoy it but instead added a beautiful cultural experience highlighting the reality of what many Chinese people faced during that time.
Plot Development 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
My assessment of this story is that it is more character-driven than plot-driven. The plot is the love story of Haiwen and Suchi and how after all they went through can they move forward together and create a new future together. We spent more time learning about the characters and how they came to be the people they were in their early seventies.
Yet when it came to specific plot points such as Haiwen’s decision to enlist in the Nationalist army they were executed wonderfully and did their job to move the story along creating intrigue and wonder for the reader as we wonder how they’ll navigate this challenging circumstance.
Also, for this book to be on the longer side coming in at around 512 pages it didn’t feel like a slog or drag. It maintained a medium-pace and balanced moving the plot forward and exploring themes that make the story so rich and palpable.
Characters 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The characters were so beautifully developed. They were multidimensional and we got to see their shortcomings and imperfections making them appear more human. This made it easy to connect with them and attach yourself to them becoming emotionally invested in what happened to them. I felt their pain, disappointment, fear, love, anger, hope, and every feeling in between.
Essentially the reader gets to grow with the character as we meet them as idealistic children and teenagers. We then watch them evolve in each stage of their life as situations begin to alter and change them shifting their perspective and mindset. Their actions and behavior were consistent with who they were making their concluding arc even more impactful.
Additionally, I found the side characters to be just as important to the overall story. They were also developed and made to be complex and multi-layered. We learn about their motivations and situations and how they impact the main character adding to their story.
Lastly, the characters were quite diverse and included queer, disability, and chronic illness representation. As a person with a chronic illness I connected with and it felt accurate. We get common misconceptions and labels commonly assigned to those with chronic illness showcasing ableist ideals juxtaposed with the reality of chronic illness survivors living with the condition and struggling to get a proper diagnosis all while being misunderstood. Chen did such a terrific job with this.
If you prefer a character-driven Historical Fiction that spans centuries and explores topics such as war, racial identity, displacement, and long-lost love this is the book for you!
