Diamond Head

I probably should have known that this novel that purports to be a multi-generational family epic was going to fall a bit short when I noticed that the page count was just over 300. To really do justice to a story like the one Cecily Wong is trying to tell, she would have needed about another 200 pages at least. When we meet the Leong family in mid-1960s Hawaii, they are gathered for a funeral. Bohai, son of Frank and Lin, husband to Amy, and father to Theresa, has died. Despite the family's wealth and glamour, things are amiss. Patriarch and shipping magnate Frank Leong is long dead, Lin hasn't been seen in public in over a decade, Amy is withdrawn and disconnected, and teenage Theresa is heavily pregnant. Each woman's story is told and examined through the lens of Chinese folklore around the “red string of fate” that connects lovers. Besides the relatively abbreviated page length, there are some other structural issues that set the book back, including the choice to tell the women's stories through short alternating chapters and inconsistent use of first and third person, which can make it challenging to keep track of which narrative is which. And each of the women feels a little stock, a little flat, more “types” than people. I feel like there's a really powerful story about generational trauma and the power of maternal love that could have come out of this, but while it's decently-written and reasonably compelling it never gets there.