{"product_id":"livonia-chow-mein","title":"Livonia Chow Mein","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"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.\" --\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames McBride, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Heaven \u0026amp; Earth Grocery Store\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eIn the vein of \u003ci\u003eHappiness Falls\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFamily Lore\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWho 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJoining 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA stunning debut from a new talent, \u003ci\u003eLivonia Chow Mein\u003c\/i\u003e 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.","brand":"Abigail Savitch-Lew","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47289358844140,"sku":"9781668075234","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9781668075234.jpg?v=1770592753","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/livonia-chow-mein","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}