This was a wonderfully done historical fiction novel, it had that feel that I was looking for and was engaged with the setting of post-Cultural Revolution China. The characters had that feel that I was looking for and worked in this story and enjoyed the overall element to this. Radha Lin Chaddah has a strong writing style and was glad I read this.

This book is beautifully written as it transports you to a China that is ever changing but not. Chaddah takes you to 1978 China, the Cultural Revolution and to the small village of Lei and her husband and to Shanghai, with Lulu , a woman of the night. Two diverse locations but so very much the same, both filled with road blocks and hardship.
I love reading books of the Chinese culture and for a debut offer, Chaddah did not disappoint.
Highly recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC copy.

fun and interesting book that's quite well-done. the discussion is intricate and impressive. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I was transported to China in this incredible debut by Radha Lin Chaddah. Interesting characters with storylines that kept me hooked until the end. This book is thought provoking and I walk away with more knowledge from reading it- great book for historical fiction readers!

'And the Ancestors Sing' is an extraordinary novel.

Its beautiful prose captivated me from the first few pages and never released me from its grip. The characters are truly lifelike. Painstakingly and sympathetically drawn, not one of them is two-dimensional or behaves in an easily predictable fashion. (The story arc of Bo, in particular, comes to mind). The plot moves briskly forward, and each chapter advances the complex storyline while deepening your relationship with the main protagonists and their supporting cast.

Perhaps the biggest single achievement of this book, however, was the skill with which it transported me to China, gently depositing me there, and then introducing me to one fascinating element or another of the culture and society that had been previously inaccessible to me, however frenetic my prior reading on the topic.

And the Ancestors Sing' is an incredible accomplishment, and I will do all that is in my power to have my book-loving friends and family read it the moment that it becomes broadly available.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co for the free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

And the Ancestors Sing spans 1978-the 2000s, exploring a range of themes from poverty, familial duty/trauma, neurological conditions, HIV, and on and on. There was much more to the book than I initially expected based on the description issued from the publisher, but the way the author unfolded it all was masterfully done with subtlety and a light hand, focusing primarily on the characters and their lives. Normally I love long sweeping books about families but I tend to tune out a little when reading about the family members I don't care about-this didn't happen here because I wanted to know what happened to all of them. It's a talented author that can write a book with so many different characters, but make each one engaging in different ways.

Parts of the book were beautiful-Yan describing a letter from her absent mother as a flower with all but a few petals plucked out comes to mind- and parts were devastating. Some of the transitions from one scene to the next were abrupt toward the beginning of the book, making it difficult to figure out what was happening to whom, but it smoothed out as the book went along.