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** THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER **

‘Insightful and heartfelt’ GLAMOUR

‘Easy to inhale’ GUARDIAN

‘Mesmerizing’ BRIT BENNETT, author of THE VANISHING HALF

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HOW FAR WILL WE GO TO BELONG?

On the precipice of Y2K, unpaid intern Lily Chen is attempting to live the American dream in New York City. But her scientist parents imagined so much more for her when they fled Mao’s cultural revolution, hoping for a better life. Despite the glamour of her media job, Lily can barely make rent – until she falls into the arms of Matthew. This young financier can give her a fairy tale life of luxury, and for the first time her dreams appear within reach.

High school student Nick Chen and his best friend Timothy are plotting to break free. College promises escape from an isolated and close-knit island in Washington State, space from his strict and secretive mum Lily, and the chance to finally fit in. But when Nick sets out to find his long-lost father, a world of questions opens, and it is one unexpected member of the Chen family who holds the key to it all.

Real Americans is a family epic about identity, sacrifice, choices and fate. It is a wildly imaginative and profound story of betrayal and forgiveness that asks us how far we should go for those we love.

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‘Traverses time with verve and feeling’ RAVEN LEILANI, author of LUSTER

‘An eye-opener, imaginative and exhilarating’ HA JIN, author of WAITING

‘Gorgeous, heartfelt, soaring, philosophical and deft’ ANDREW SEAN GREER, author of LESS

Publisher Review

Real Americans traverses time with verve and feeling. Khong captures how people can be strange to themselves, how bewilderment can be a site of creation (or change, or becoming) — Raven Leilani Aglow with love in its many forms, suffused with questions of where-and to whom-we belong, Real Americans is a book of rare charm. Khong untangles the roots of family with a wry, tender attention that will leave readers as comforted as they are challenged — C Pam Zhang Gorgeous, heartfelt, soaring, philosophical and deft, Real Americans turns the multigenerational novel inside out. Fate, honesty, our bargains with life. You will keep turning it over and over in your mind — Andrew Sean Greer Real Americans is a truly special novel. It’s an elegant portrait of how we disappoint those we love, despite trying our best, and how attempts to tame humanity misunderstand its complexity. Khong masterfully unfolds each character before us, revealing their dreams and regrets, and their undying hope for better. * Nicola Dinan, author of Bellies * Real Americans is a grand novel that explores the American psyche, dramatizing the fundamental American belief in the ability to change the world and improve humanity. Rachel Khong shows infinite and colorful perceptions of the world, which are often leavened with wisdom. Besides being a page turner, this book is also an eye-opener, imaginative and exhilarating — Ha Jin