'Khong masterfully explores a family splintered by science, struggling to redefine their own lives after uncovering harrowing secrets. Real Americans is a mesmerizing multigenerational novel about privilege, identity and the illusions of the American dream' **Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half

HOW FAR WILL WE GO TO BELONG?**

On the precipice of Y2K, unpaid intern Lily Chen is attempting to live the American dream in New York City. But her scientist parents imagined so much more for her when they fled Mao's cultural revolution, hoping for a better life. Despite the glamour of her media job, Lily can barely make rent - until she falls into the arms of Matthew. This young financier can give her a fairy tale life of luxury, and for the first time her dreams appear within reach.

High school student Nick Chen and his best friend Timothy are plotting to break free. College promises escape from an isolated and close-knit island in Washington State, space from his strict and secretive mum Lily, and the chance to finally fit in. But when Nick sets out to find his long-lost father, a world of questions opens, and it is one unexpected member of the Chen family who holds the key to it all.

Real Americans is a family epic about identity, sacrifice, choices and fate. It is a wildly imaginative and profound story of betrayal and forgiveness that asks us how far we should go for those we love.

Autorentext

Rachel Khong is the author of Goodbye, Vitamin, winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction and named a best book of the year by NPR; O, The Oprah Magazine; Vogue; and Esquire. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, The Paris Review, and Tin House. In 2018, she founded the Ruby, a work and event space for women and nonbinary writers and artists in San Francisco's Mission District. She was born in Malaysia and lives in California.