The debut novel from Korean-American author Juli Min chronicles contemporary life in China by following a Shanghai family across almost four decades. In Min’s narrative structure, time moves backwards so the novel begins in 2040 before rewinding back one year at a time until 2014.
Min offers a nuanced insight into this wealthy cosmopolitan family consisting of a Chinese father, Leo, French-Japanese mother, Eko, and their three daughters, Yumi, Yoko and Yukiko, by switching perspectives throughout. It is striking, however, that the supposed futuristic Shanghai of 2040 is not considerably different from today. As such, with the rate of acceleration at which technology and culture is evolving in the present, the familiarity of Min’s future undermines the integrity of the storytelling with a sense of underdeveloped world-building.
Min’s strength lies in strong characterisation with thoughtful interrogation of family dynamics and intergenerational experiences of love, marriage and familial secrets. The moments of scrutiny of class and economic inequality are also particularly sensitively navigated. Accordingly, it is unclear what benefit is derived from extending so far into an unknowable future, beyond perhaps ambition for a more novel premise.
A similar concern is evident regarding the overall structure itself. Presenting this anti-chronological timeline to the reader raises an expectation that ultimately this will offer greater illumination or deeper revelation than a traditional forward momentum would have. There is an assumption that the grand design will deliver on its promise with a satisfying pay-off that justifies it as a creative choice. Min’s execution, however, falls short of this and so the strength of her prose is weakened by the shaky infrastructure on which it is built. An enhanced concentration on the connective tissue between the individual chapters would also have helped strengthen the sense of purpose to the construction.
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Overall, however, the authorial instincts that Min has for deconstructing familial relationships, with sometimes shimmering prose, suggests great potential for future work with the adoption of a less unwieldy premise.
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