Wow, this one is seriously underrated. This family tragedy is a page-turner and my only complaint is that I really wish it were longer.

Really enjoyed this one. Would reccomend this to everyone if you want to read something diffrent for a change. Looking forward to more from Kristin Chen.

An interesting look into Mao’s China in 1957, the brutality and the effects of propaganda. The Ong family is trying to get out of Communist China to Hong Kong to reunite with the father of the family. The children, San San and Ah Liam have been fed the language of the Revolution, and start to doubt their own family. Relevant to much going on today, the power of the wrong message and how it takes hold, as well as the efforts of a family to reunite, kept me turning the page, although the ending was a bit weak.

A well-built story about a family in mainland China trying to immigrate to Hong Kong intact. The story itself was intricate, compelling, and nuanced. However, I found the character development to be flat and lacking. Ultimately, the underdeveloped characters undermined the storyline.

Our immigration system is a hot topic in the news lately and it seems like personal accounts of success and failure by people who come to this great land are broadcast by our media on a regular basis. Bury What We Cannot Take is a story of immigration which moves the issue to a historical context; it’s a powerful, emotional tale of a family leaving mainland China after it has fallen to the communists and the pain of rebuilding their lives in Hong Kong.

Their family had once been large and wealthy. Now all that remains is Grandmother Bee Kim, her daughter in law Seok Koon and grandchildren, San San who is nine, and Ah Liam who is twelve. Bee Kim’s son, Ah Zhai, is in Hong Kong. He had been working there when the Chinese government became communist and has not seen his family in years, although he is able to write to them. Their apartment is much smaller than what it was before and the neighbors much coarser. The regime change has not worked in their favor.

Bee Kim has struggled adapting to the new reality. Her husband, once a factory owner, died as the janitor in that same factory. Her friend recently lost her spouse when his workers rioted and now that friend has committed suicide. Angry and hurting, Bee Kim takes a hammer to the portrait of Chairman Mao which they are forced to have hanging in their home.

When San San and Ah Liam discover her with the hammer and shards of glass lying all about her, they swear to keep the event secret. Then Ah Liam is offered a golden opportunity – a chance to join the youth league. It is the first step to becoming a full party member, a recognition of all the hard work Ah Liam has done in school to separate himself from his bourgeois past. To prove his dedication to the cause, he lists his grandmother’s behavior on the form.

The family had been quietly making plans to leave China, but the situation becomes urgent when Ah Liam’s confession results in their being scrutinized by the government. Seok Koon heads to the safety bureau to procure visas for passage to Hong Kong but even after bribing the official, receives only three passes: one for herself, one for her mother-in-law and one for a child of her choosing. She chooses Ah Liam. She is heartbroken when she leaves San San behind, but is confident that with the help of her husband she will be able to procure another visa and be reunited with her daughter quickly.

It doesn’t quite work out that way.

Ms. Chen does an excellent, truly exceptional job, of helping readers envision the changing Chinese landscape through the eyes of this little family. Bee Kim captures the difference between the old world and the new perfectly. Not only have her husband, much of her wealth, her lifestyle and her friends been taken from her but the right to mourn the loss is snatched from her as well.

Seok Koon represents the dichotomy of the times. She is mother of both son and daughter, a daughter lacks value in their culture but means the world to her. She is a married woman who hasn’t seen her husband in years and even before that he was essentially a stranger to her. She is the least valued adult member of the family but the only one able to clearly see what must be done and the only one willing to do it.

Ah Liam is someone for whom my heart ached, since he truly was caught between two worlds. Naturally a good and obedient child, he excels at school and laps up the indoctrination they feed him. He has seen, through his own experiences, that much of what is being taught is right. His grandmother forced the kitchen boy – who was his own age – to work rather than play with him. She threw the family out when Ah Liam pursued the relationship. And Bee Kim also treats the few remaining servants with contempt. Communism, with its emphasis on equality, appeals to his proletariat nature.

But while Ah Liam shows us the cause of the revolution, it is San San’s story that shows us the reality of it. From the poverty and hardship experienced by many, the fear and brutality experienced by all, and the charity that lies beneath the ugliness, we see through her eyes the phenomena of this monumental moment in history.

Bury What We Cannot Take is evocative, engrossing, beautiful, frightening and illuminating. The only flaws I could find are that it was also a bit unbelievable and that it scratches only the surface of issues and characters that could have used a fuller exploration. That said, I would still recommend this novel to anyone looking for a good read. It packs a powerful punch into a relatively small package.

3.5 Twelve year old, Ah Liam is a staunch supporter of the cultural revolution and of Chairman Mao. So much so that he reports his own grandmother for taking a hammer to the picture in their house, the picture every house must have, of their beloved Chairman. Coming from a priviledged background, his family still living in their Villa, albeit on only one floor, but still maintaining a few servents, he already has much to overcome. This sct though will start a crushing tide of circumstances, one that will find himself, his mother and grandma fleeing to Hong Kong, but forced to leave his nine year old sister San San, behind.

This book starts out very powerfully, a close look at the cultural revolution and the fear and divisions it caused in families and in its citizens. A time when people were encouraged to tell on each other, to curry favor and gain in status. It is the story of a young girl left behind in the care of servants, that wants only to be reconnected with her family. She sees horrible things, endures much as she tries to escape. I loved the character of San San, hers was the most developed character, the rest just background.

The last part of the book though I thought not as strong. I'm not sure a young, nine year old could do all the things, think the way she does, rationalize and carry out her plans. So I felt the last part of the book lost credibility and turned into an adventure story rather than the strong historical in which it started. Glad I read this though, I did enjoy it for the most part. It is definitely worth reading.

ARC from Netgalley.

San San and her brother Ah Liam return home from school one day, expecting a normal afternoon with a snack and time with their grandmother. Instead, they find that their grandmother has smashed a portrait of Chairman Mao with a hammer. Ah-Liam is conflicted, but ultimately decides to confess his grandmother's crime to the Communist Party. Soon the family has no choice but to try to flee the country to Hong Kong, lying that their father is ill. But the government will only grant three visas--one to mother Seok Koon, one to grandmother Bee Kim, and one for just one of the children. Seok's impossible choice will lead each of them to situations they never imagined.

Bury What We Cannot Take maintains a level of tension rarely seen in books other than thrillers. From the first pages when the children make their discovery, there is a very real possibility that someone will be imprisoned, killed, or lost to their family forever. This powerful book looks at the process of making difficult decisions and the repercussions that we never imagined. Everyone in this tale makes choices--Bee Kim made the choice to destroy the picture, Seok Koon decided which child to take to Hong Kong, Ah Zhai left his family to pursue another life in Hong Kong, and Ah Liam chose to put party ahead of his family. The only one who doesn't make a definitive choice is San San, but she is the one who must deal with the consequences.

Kristin Chen is a writer who is careful and precise with her words. Beautiful writing and a tense and powerful story of the uncertainty of living in Communist China make Bury What We Cannot Take a book you don't want to miss.

Bury What We Cannot Take
By Kristin Chen
Little A March 2018
275 pages

Provided only three permits/visas available given to a family of four, which family members would you bring with you to a place far from the rule of communism? Your choices are:

A. Your mother-in-law (grandmother of your children)
B. Your first child (son)
C. Your second child (daughter)

In the case of Soo Keon, mother and daughter-in-law, she chose Bee Kim and Ah Liam, believing that within a few days time, little San San would rejoin them on the other side. Unfortunately, the circumstances wouldn't have it her way.

Set in China, Bury What We Cannot Take, by Kirstin Chen, is a story of many things: the struggles of a family, the burden of secrets, forgiveness and letting go of anger, oppression, loss of innocence, and survival.

What I liked most about the book is the role of San San and her perseverance. At the age of 9, she is faced with so much challenge that she is left to trust only herself. With her relentless will to be with her family, to be in her mother's arms once again, she made use of her wit to fight through, to live, to survive. Not even hunger can stop her. Her transformation in the story is flawless and that is what I admired the most about her. From riches to rags, this girl just slayed the dragons of life!

I'm always looking for books that makes me understand varying situations happening in the society and this book went ahead and achieved my expectations of it. I felt like I experienced the different perspectives of the characters and that was a HUGE thumbs up for me.

While I enjoyed most of the book, the one and only downside for me was the ending. I found it to be slightly off. I was like: whaaaaat? I read it, understood it, but at the same time, I don't. Do you get me? No? Okay.

This book is admirable and if you're one for historical stories set in Asia, then here's a fitting book for you!

Bury What We Cannot Take is a captivating novel about one family’s attempt to flee from Communist China in 1957. Having been granted only 3 travel visas to Hong Kong for 4 family members, Seok Koon is forced to leave one of her children behind in order to legally exit the country, and Kirsten Chen explores the ramifications of this harrowing decision.

Bury What We Cannot Take is actually everything I had hoped Girls Burn Brighter was going to be. Both novels follow two parties which have been separated and which spend the novel seeking a reunion, and in both cases, these stories are filled to the brim with tragedy. But where Girls Burn Brighter indulges (at least in my opinion) a bit too heavily in the gruesome details of its characters’ plights, Bury What We Cannot Take is more interested in the kind of resilience needed to survive. Though the chapters which follow the left-behind child can be difficult to read, I felt that the narrative was approached with sensitivity, and it quickly earned my emotional investment.

This novel is deceptively short for 300 pages, and as a result, my only complaint is that at times it felt a bit rushed. Though I loved how compelling and immersive it was – I think I read 20% in one sitting and then finished it in another sitting the next day – certain plot points were glossed over, and I wouldn’t have minded spending a bit more time with the Ong family.

But ultimately, I really enjoyed this. It’s a fantastic look at Communist China and its insidious regime, which follows a host of complex, sympathetic characters aged across multiple generations. Though I hadn’t heard of Kirsten Chen before this, I’ll definitely be looking into anything she writes in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little A, and Kirsten Chen for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

There are some decisions that one should not overthink. Then there others that absolutely require long deliberation. Ong Seok Koon’s mistake at the beginning of Bury What We Cannot Take, by Kirstin Chen, is that she makes a very important decision without any thought at all. She and her family pay for that mistake for months. It’s only through the sheerest luck that they manage to survive that one bad decision.

Though they don’t know it, 1957 is a year for getting out of mainland China. The Ong family of Drum Wave Islet in Fujian are still fairly well off, thanks to the family’s factories. But 1957 is the beginning of what will become the Anti-Rightist Campaign and impulsive acts like Ong Bee Kim’s smashing of a portrait of Chairman Mao could condemn the entire family. Just after Bee Kim smashes the portrait and her grandson denounces her in an application to the Youth League, Seok Koon puts her plan to get the family to Hong Kong into action. She pulls every string she can reach, but only manages to secure exit papers for herself, her mother-in-law, and one of her children. When pressed to choose which child to take to Hong Kong, she blurts out the first name to pop into her head: her son’s name. Her daughter, San San, is left behind.

The rest of the book follows San San’s efforts to not get caught by Party officials in Fujian; Seok Koon’s increasingly frantic efforts to get her daughter back; her son, Ah Liam’s, stubborn clinging to Party thought and hoping to return to the mainland; and her husband’s efforts to support Seok Koon’s quest as well as his mistress while his business fails. Because the book is mostly told in dialogue, there isn’t as much character development as I would have liked. This is definitely not another Sophie’s Choice in spite of the superficial similarities. The lack of exposition also meant that I didn’t think the setting was given enough attention.

What bothered me most about Bury What We Cannot Take was its miraculous ending. Perhaps I’m not used to books set in China anywhere between 1911 and, say, 1980, that have happy endings. I just couldn’t believe that everything would work out as well as it did in this novel. Between the ending and lack of character development, I found Bury What We Cannot Take unsatisfying, even though it was interesting to read. That said, I might recommend it to someone who wants to broaden their reading horizons, but still wants a happy ending.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 20 March 2018.

Set in Hong King and Communist China in 1957, Kirstin Chen's new novel follows the once-weathly Ong family's quest to flee the Mao state and reunite with their estranged father. Grandmother, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter all have reasons for wanting to remain on or leave their little island of Drum Wave Islet.
In an attempt to tether the family to the mainland, the local official issues them only three visas, and they are forced to leave their young daughter behind in the care of family friends and a couple servants. What follows is the family's attempt to find passage for nine-year-old San San, and her struggle to keep her wits about her as she believes her family may have deserted her for good.
Chen aims to explore every character's conflicts, whether they be with family ties, political ideology, or financial strife. I enjoyed this view into an interesting time in China's history. I look forward to reading more novels by this talented author.
Thank you to NetGalley, Little A, and Kirsten Chen for the advanced copy for review.