WHAT WE LEFT UNSAID
by Winnie M Li
Three estranged Taiwanese American siblings reunite to drive iconic Route 66.
Bonnie, the eldest Chu sibling, lives in Boston with her wealthy husband and three sons. Kevin lives in Chicago with his wife and two children, and Alex, the youngest, who’s just turned 40, lives in London with her wife, who’s pregnant with their first child. Their parents still live in the Asian American enclave where they raised their children in Southern California. When their mother has a stroke and needs surgery, she insists her children pause their busy schedules to visit. Not only that, but she also demands they first see the Grand Canyon together before arriving in Orange County. More than three decades earlier, the family had tried to take a road trip there but were thwarted and never reached their destination. The story unfolds between the past, slowly revealing what transpired on that long-ago family vacation, and the present lives of this trio experiencing all the costs and benefits of middle age. This structure proves as powerful as it does elegant, magnifying how a single moment in the life of a family, a single secret kept whether intentionally or by omission, can ripple out into each member’s future. The parallel tracks of the road trip from the siblings’ childhood that ended in a mysterious incident they all remember bits and pieces of and their present adventure along Route 66 create an immersive rhythm. The novel also examines how family bonds change as parents become elders and children become parents with a new perspective on their own upbringing. Bonnie, Kevin, and Alex play to type in both timelines: the perfectionist, responsible eldest daughter; the resentful middle sibling and proud only son; and the rebellious baby, ever the black sheep. A few history lessons and plot devices feel shoehorned into the narrative, but overall, Li’s evocative writing and commitment to exploring the romance of the open road and the many Americas that have existed through time and space win the day.
A novel that embraces and questions the lure of Americana.