Nine New Fiction Reads by Asian American Women
This Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month we are highlighting exciting, new fiction by a diverse group of women who draw upon the culture and traditions of China, India, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines—and of their lives in the U.S.— to tell these stories. These titles have been published in the last few months or are just about to be released.
We also invite you to explore our Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Reading List for many more titles reflecting a range of voices and experiences including memoirs, essays, and poetry.
The Swimmers
by Julie Otsuka
When a crack appears in the pool, a fellowship of swimmers who take comfort in their laps are cast out, including Alice, who, slowly losing her memory, is reunited too late with her estranged daughter, in this intimate story of mothers and daughters, and the sorrows of implacable loss.
Joan Is Okay
by Weike Wang
An ICU physician at a busy NYC hospital, 30-something Joan, a workaholic with little interest in having friends, let alone lovers, is required to take mandatory leave until the day she must return to the city to face a crisis larger than anything she’s encountered before.
The Immortal King Rao
by Vara Vauhini
In a future in which the world is run by the Board of Corporations, King’s daughter, Athena, reckons with his legacy—literally, for he has given her access to his memories. With climate change raging, Athena has come to believe that saving the planet and its Shareholders will require a radical act of communion—and so she sets out to tell the truth to the world’s Shareholders about King’s childhood on a South Indian coconut plantation; his migration to the U.S. to study engineering in a world transformed by globalization; his marriage to the ambitious artist with whom he changed the world; and, ultimately, his invention, under self-exile, of the most ambitious creation of his life—Athena herself.
Brown Girls
by Daphne Palasi Andreades
Four friends, all young women of color, reconcile their immigrant backgrounds that require them to be obedient, dutiful daughters, with the freedoms of American culture while growing up in a vibrant community in Queens, New York.
Evening Hero
by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
When the rural Minnesota hospital where he is a practicing obstetrician closes, a Korean immigrant confronts the life he built after the war and the assumptions he made about the so-called American Dream.
Disorientation
by Elaine Hsieh Chou
While finishing her PhD dissertation on the late canonical poet Xiao-Wen Chou, graduate student Ingrid Yang discovers a curious note in the archives and upends her entire life trying to unravel the note’s message, ultimately making an explosive discovery.
The Cartographers
by Peng Shepherd
When her estranged father is found dead with a seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, cartographer Nell Young soon discovers the map is extremely valuable—and that a mysterious collector will stop at nothing to destroy it and anyone who gets in the way.
Peach Blossom Spring
by Melissa Fu
Settling in America years after his turbulent childhood in China, Renshu, now Henry Dao, refuses to talk to his daughter about her heritage, determined to keep her safe in this new land despite being weighed down by his history.
Fiona and Jane
by Jean Chen Ho
Two best friends since elementary school, both Taiwanese Americans, navigate their grown-up lives and discover their friendship strained by distance and unintended betrayals after Fiona Lin moves to New York and Jane Shen stays in California.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.