Fiction can enrich our understanding of history by allowing us to experience it on a more intimate level than standard nonfiction. For narrative threads of history that often get overlooked, historical fiction can provide an especially powerful magnifying lens. Moments that receive barely a glance or passing mention in a textbook can be expanded on with emotional depth and poignancy.
At once sprawling and deeply personal, this week’s Three to Read picks demonstrate how history can dramatically shape people’s lives. They show us how history’s echoes persist into the present and how people come to terms with the past. Perhaps most importantly, they shed light on the many historical threads woven into the vibrant tapestry of the AAPI diaspora. Join us as we explore these windows into the past from AAPI authors.
HOT PICK
Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
SYNOPSIS:
Seven-year-old Suchi met the love of her life, Haiwen, in Shanghai. But their budding relationship was cut short when Haiwen ran off to take his brother’s place in the 1947 draft. All he left Suchi was the violin that brought them together and a note reading: Forgive Me.
Sixty years later, Haiwen (now going by his Americanized name, Howard) runs into Suchi at a 99 Ranch in Los Angeles. Newly widowed, Haiwen is eager to reconnect with his lost love. Suchi, however, remains steadfastly focused on the future. Homeseeking’s dual narrative traces Haiwen and Suchi’s diverging paths of love and loss across the better part of a century.
WHY:
Karissa Chen’s stunning debut novel has already received massive acclaim. Its plot unfolds along two parallel threads moving in opposite directions through time, reflecting Haiwen and Suchi’s opposing worldviews. Haiwen, whom readers meet in the present, is forever looking back, and so his story is told backward. Conversely, Suchi only looks ahead, and readers follow her from childhood into her adult life. Inspired by Chen’s own family, Homeseeking explores the devastating separation wrought by the Chinese Civil War — and how, through heartbreak and displacement, one can still find home.
COFFEE SHOP READ
Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi
Trigger warning: This book contains mentions of domestic abuse and miscarriage. Please exercise personal care while reading.
SYNOPSIS:
After suffering a miscarriage, painter Mira Novak arrives at a Bombay hospital to recuperate. Sona, her nurse, instantly connects with Mira over their shared half-Indian heritage, spellbound as Mira regales her with tales from her travels. But then Mira dies unexpectedly — and Sona becomes the primary suspect.
Left with a cryptic note from Mira along with four of her paintings, Sona embarks on a mission to clear her name. She travels to Europe, where tensions are high and war looms on the horizon. As she distributes Mira’s works among the late painter’s friends and lovers, Sona will uncover truths not only about Mira’s death but about Mira herself.
WHY:
Six Days in Bombay draws inspiration from the life of Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, often dubbed the “Frida Kahlo of India.” Its rich, continent-spanning historical setting reflects Alka Joshi’s extensive research into 1930s India and Europe, documented on her YouTube channel. Drawing on conversations with scholars and art historians, Joshi brings the interwar period to life in exquisite historical detail. The result is a lush, immersive mystery, one that pulls Sona out of her secluded everyday life as she retraces Mira’s steps through pre-WWII Europe.
DARK HORSE
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay
SYNOPSIS:
Across four generations, the men of the Maghabol family have struggled to make their way as Filipinos in America. In the early 20th century, field worker Francisco questions whether the better life he sought in California is actually within reach. Over the next few decades, he and his fellow laborers push for improved working conditions. His son, Emil, however, wants to make something of himself — even if it means leaving his family behind.
In present-day Philadelphia, Enzo Maghabol finds his life upended by the COVID-19 pandemic — and by the addition of his grandfather, Emil, to the household. Emil and Enzo’s father, Chris, fell out years ago over Chris’s attempts to reclaim his Filipino heritage. But as Enzo bonds with his grandfather, he starts to wonder if he can help them heal the wounds of their past.
WHY:
Randy Ribay’s multigenerational story encompasses several major touchstones for the Filipino American community, from the 1965 Delano Grape Strike to Ferdinand Marcos’ 20-year stronghold on the Philippine government. As each member of the Maghabol family negotiates his relationship to his identity in different ways, he also feels the reverberations of the historical moment. Francisco, Emil, and Chris’s worldviews are each shaped by their specific context, often putting them at odds with each other. Ribay perfectly captures the ongoing tensions of belonging to a diasporic community: between generations, cultures, and the collective vs. the individual.
That’s all for this week’s Three to Read! We’ll be back next week with more awesome new reads for your TBR.
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