Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

 

Family secrets are uncovered in the wake of a family tragedy.  The Lees are a Chinese-American family living in a small Midwestern town in the 1970's.  Marilyn was determined in her youth to become a doctor but once she met and fell in love with James in college, she put those ambitions aside.  James was the Chinese man who grew up feeling constantly like an outsider, his classmates rich while his parents worked at the school which gave him free tuition.  He has never believed his luck in attracting and marrying Marilyn even though her mother disapproved of their mixed marriage and is not part of their lives.

Three children completed the family.  Nathan is the eldest, about to head off to Harvard where he wants to study physics.  Lydia is the elder daughter and the favorite child, channeling her parents' ambitions. Hannah is the youngest, often ignored and who spends her time studying the family dynamics, hoping for attention.  

But they all are hiding secrets.  Both Marilyn and James try to relive their lives through Lydia.  Marilyn is determined that Lydia will break the gender barriers she failed to and will make her way to the top by her intelligence.  James wants a popular daughter to make up for his friendless childhood.  Lydia models their ambitions although she isn't sure what she wants.  She spends endless hours studying and doing academic work.  She makes up a large circle of friends, pretending to be talking with them on the phone and making up gatherings she never attends.  Nathan has to hide his academic successes and aspirations since his parents only have time to focus on Lydia.  Hannah just hides on the periphery, hoping for attention that never comes.  Will this family find a way to break through the layers and find each other?

This debut novel was chosen as an Amazon Best Book of 2014.  Ng explores the themes of hidden family secrets and the damage they do as well as probing relationships between individuals from different races, the gender disparity in workplaces and the need for family members to love each other as they are and be supportive.  The characters have good intentions but just keep missing each other's humanity and needs.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction focused on family relationships.