Description

“Abigail Savitch-Lew opens up doors to a Brooklyn world that most of us will never see. She reveals the convergence of cultures that is the real New York to life with flair and grace that make this an utterly enjoyable read.” -James McBride, New York Times bestselling author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

In the vein of Happiness Falls and Family Lore, a gripping story of family history and political upheaval centered around a Chinese family-owned restaurant in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and its impact on the neighborhood’s Jewish and Black residents over the course of a century.

In 1978, two tenements on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville burn to the ground, killing one resident and displacing dozens of others. It remains unclear who set the buildings ablaze, but the survivors are convinced the culprit is Mr. Wong.

Who exactly is Mr. Wong, and what allegedly drove him to this extraordinary act of violence, is the question that consumes this novel as it plunges into four generations of Wong family history. First is Koon Lai, an immigrant who runs a Chinese restaurant on Livonia Avenue; second, his son Richard, a man desperate for his own chance at the American Dream; and third, Jason, a poet who seeks his escape in the bohemian counterculture of the 1970s, but finds himself an unwitting participant in Brooklyn’s gentrification. In the 21st century, Jason’s daughter Sadie returns to Brownsville as a journalist, determined to unravel the mystery of what happened decades earlier on the night the buildings blazed.

Joining together the present and the past is the community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, who was also displaced by that fire and who has spent the intervening years fighting for the rights of Brownsville’s residents and organizing a Livonia Avenue community land trust.

A stunning debut from a new talent, Livonia Chow Mein contemplates how the American pursuit of freedom relies on a collective amnesia and challenges us to consider what it would take for us to truly live in harmony.

Publisher Review

"First-time novelist Savitch-Lew is on a mission in this ardently researched,many-faceted neighborhood saga of immigration, race, desperation, and aspiration...forthright, illuminating, and provocative." * Booklist (starred review) * "This is an indelible story of Brooklyn and the recurring tug-of-war between residents and new arrivals over the right to call the borough home. It's a tour de force." * Publishers Weekly (starred review) * "Savitch-Lew shows prodigious narrative gifts in this debut novel...A vivid, savory blend of family saga, cultural history, and detective story, rich with urban life and lore." * Kirkus (starred review) * "Abigail Savitch-Lew opens up doors to a Brooklyn world that most of us will never see. She reveals the convergence of cultures that is the real New York to life with flair and grace that make this an utterly enjoyable read." -- James McBride, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store "Livonia Chow Mein is a true New York story, a vivid, empathetic portrait of a Brooklyn neighborhood told through four generations of one family. Abigail Savitch-Lew is a generous and gifted storyteller." -- Lisa Ko, author of Memory Piece and The Leavers "In Livonia Chow Mein, Abigail Savitch-Lew achieves a rare synthesis, producing a vivid, rich and rarely seen narrative about Brooklynites that also is a resonant social and political critique, providing new ways of seeing and understanding our past, present and future. Tackling the most difficult subjects, including race, class, gentrification, history's many complexities, and so much more, Savitch-Lew's debut novel is a marvel." -- John Keene, National Book Award winning author of Punks