What audience would you recommend Real Americans to? Is there another book or author you’d recommend that you feel has a similar theme or style?
Anyone who wonders about the implications of scientific advancements. The historic storyline about China seems grounded in truth and has appeal to historical fiction readers.
The book that Real Americans reminds me of the most is Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. The resemblance comes from the fact that in both books women and their reproductive choices are unknowingly manipulated by others without their knowledge and consent. In both cases, but especially in Take My Hand, I found the events evoked in me disbelief, horror, and anger at the intentional violation of these women.
I feel both these books would result in some very engaging conversations for book clubs who are willing to candidly discuss sensitive and possibly polarizing conversations.
Anyone who enjoys multi generational sagas, immigration experiences, and/or bit of science or magical realism would like this book. If you have read and enjoyed Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, or Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng then I would expect that you would like The Real Americans.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in ethnic identification and confusion. Also, it might appeal to anyone exploring the choices women make about their own body, especially in the current political climate. The book would appeal to people who enjoy intergenerational novels and like stories told from different perspectives. Not only would I recommend this book to adults, but, also, to older teens.
There are so many interesting and important topics covered in this book. I think anyone who enjoys multigenerational novels, along with historical fiction and the advent of scientific advancement and its effects on people and society. Of course, also for readers who enjoy the immigrant experience from multiple perspectives
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I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys family sagas. I think Celeste Ng is a similar author. I enjoyed Everything You Never Told Me and Little Fires Everwhere.
There are several themes that book clubs could discuss. If you want to read about another immigrant family learning to live in the United States, you might like A Great Country by Shilpi Gowda. If you would like to read more about families during the Chinese Revolution, you might like Daughters of Shandong by Eve Chung. I enjoyed both of those books. My book club read Daughters of Shandong and really liked it.
I would recommend this book to readers of literary fiction, historical fiction, and to those who like multigenerational family sagas.
I liked all those books you recommend!
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I have already recommended it to my book club. Most of our members are born and raised Washingtonians with little experience of other ethnicities or places. This is sure to create an opportunity for a lot of good discussion between us.
Having just read both of these books you mentioned, I totally agree. Both of these amazing reads deals with women and their reproductive choices. And sadly the most important fact it was without neither their knowledge and consent. Both events are horrific, and continues to made me not only sad but angry with this violation, one by our government and the either by private research. I feel anyone who is currently feeling oppressed by the loss of our Roe vs Wade rights needs to read these books. And now as I am writing this revenue, I hear on the television that our current president is now considering giving out medals to woman who have more babies than the current ratio. What comes to my mind. . . World War II and Nazi German practices.