Family Trust
Ratings5
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings5
Average rating3.7
"Meet Stanley Huang: father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable tastes and temper, aficionado of all-inclusive vacations and bargain luxury goods, newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For years, Stanley has claimed that he's worth a small fortune. But the time is now coming when the details of his estate will finally be revealed, and Stanley's family is nervous. For his son Fred, the inheritance Stanley has long alluded to would soothe the pain caused by years of professional disappointment. By now, the Harvard Business School graduate had expected to be a financial tech god - not a minor investor at a middling corporate firm, where he isn't even allowed to fly business class. Stanley's daughter, Kate, is a middle manager with one of Silicon Valley's most prestigious tech companies. She manages the capricious demands of her world-famous boss and the needs of her two young children all while supporting her would-be entrepreneur husband (just until his startup gets off the ground, which will surely be soon). But lately, Kate has been sensing something amiss; just because you say you have it all, it doesn't mean that you actually do. Stanley's second wife, Mary Zhu, twenty-eight years his junior, has devoted herself to making her husband comfortable in every way--rubbing his feet, cooking his favorite dishes, massaging his ego. But lately, her commitment has waned; caring for a dying old man is far more difficult than she expected. Linda Liang, Stanley's first wife, knows her ex better than anyone. She worked hard for decades to ensure their financial security, and is determined to see her children get their due. Single for nearly a decade, she might finally be ready for some romantic companionship. But where does a seventy-two year old Chinese woman in California go to find an appropriate boyfriend? As Stanley's death approaches, the Huangs are faced with unexpected challenges that upend them and eventually lead them to discover what they most value. A compelling tale of cultural expectations, career ambitions and our relationships with the people who know us best, Family Trust skewers the ambition and desires that drive Silicon Valley and draws a sharply loving portrait of modern American family life"--
"A family saga based in Silicon Valley that follows the Huang family as they come to terms with their patriarch's terminal cancer diagnosis and anticipate the distribution of his highly valuable estate"--
Reviews with the most likes.
I really wanted to love this book, but now I find myself struggling to review it.
I'll start with the pros: The writing style itself was fantastic; visually descriptive with exceptional character development, pacing, and scene-setting. It was easy to get a true sense of the characters and locations. And because the story is told in the first person, from every main character's POV, it was easy to know exactly what everyone's inner thoughts and motivations were.
Now the cons: the Huang family, around whom this story centers, can best be described as a bunch of assholes, solely interested in whatever inheritance will be gained upon the passing of family patriarch, Stanley Huang. But before you start feeling sorry for Stanley, let me assure you there's no need. He's the #1 prime asshole of this clan. Entitled, self-important, and abusive to his children and current wife, Mary. I find it difficult to get invested in this type of story when there are no characters to root for. (Maybe that was the point? To borrow a term from Reddit, “ESH” - everyone sucks here.) The only character with any semi-redeeming qualities is Kate, the adult daughter of Stanley and his ex-wife Linda, who is dealing with some marriage drama of her own.
At the end of this book, I found myself with no real sense of what the story was trying to accomplish. I probably should have DNF'd it, but I kept hoping that it would turn around. Unfortunately, that was not my experience. I would definitely be interested in reading something from this author again, as I did enjoy the writing style itself, but it would depend on the storyline/plot development.
