I have ambivalent feelings about John Shors’ Dragon House. Shors is a masterful writer who makes the country of Vietnam come alive for the reader. The plot and characters of the novel, however, were a disappointment. Most of the characters fit a stereotype that I considered one dimensional and clichéd: the daughter of a Vietnam vet travels to Vietnam to take up the work of the father she barely knew; her childhood friend and Iraq War veteran, who is both physically and psychologically scarred by his war experience, and agrees to accompany her to Vietnam at his mother’s request; the selfless, noble (and beautiful) Vietnamese woman who works at the center. I never got a sense of what motivated the characters. The plot, too, was formulaic and too predictable to hold my interest.

The highlight of the novel for me was the relationship between the two street children, Mai and Minh. Shors did an excellent job of capturing their voices and characters, and their devotion to one another. The problems of street children are very real and I appreciate Shors’ effort to bring their lives and experiences to the attention of general readers. Yet in the end I felt like I was reading a well written fairy tale that left me wanting more.

Morris delivers a razor sharp portrayal of Nora, a middle aged woman whose life is turned upside down by the revelation of her husband’s affair and the reappearance of a very creepy old boyfriend. Her descriptions of Nora and the emotional fallout she and her children suffer as their family breaks up are painfully real. While the character of Nora is three dimensional and fully realized, I felt the secondary characters were less well drawn. I didn’t find the plot particularly engaging, and the chain of events that transpired over the course of the novel didn’t really surprise me. Morris artfully weaves the theme of secrets and the consequences of keeping them throughout the novel.

It was with great reluctance that I turned the last pages of The Toss of a Lemon. This rich and deftly written novel captures the lives of members of a conservative Brahmin family living in a small village in southern India. I was completely captivated with the world Viswanathan created in this novel. I’m partial to novels about India, and The Toss of a Lemon far exceeded my expectations. Readers of Arundhati Roy, Rohinton Mistry and Manil Suri will enjoy this novel.

Helen Tse has written a loving tribute to the women in her family in Sweet Mandarin. The greater part of the book tells her grandmother Lily’s story, and hers is a remarkable one. Beginning with her parent’s move to Hong Kong and her father’s death, Lily experiences both hardship and good fortune, and perseveres through it all.

Sweet Mandarin is a well written, compelling story about family, courage, determination, and making the most out of life. Tse’s fine prose makes the story read like a novel. The book spans over 75 years of family history in less than 300 pages, so there were parts of the story I wish had been covered in more detail. But, given that this is a memoir and not a novel, I felt Tse did an excellent job of remaining true to her family’s story as it was remembered. I only wish I could enjoy a meal of Lily’s signature Chicken Curry! Readers of Amy Tan and Diana Abu-Jaber (The Language of Baklava) will enjoy this book.