Tomb Sweeping by Alexandra Chang is a collection of fifteen character-driven short stories, focusing on the Asian American experience. The stories explore complex relationships, often highlighting the gradual shifts over time, such as friendships fading, as seen in Klara's tale, and the poignant reflections on grief in Farewell Hank. Each story offers a unique perspective, from unsettling to profound, making readers navigate a wide range of emotions.
Chang's writing style is straightforward and impactful, bringing depth to the characters she presents. While many stories resonate deeply, some readers found others ended abruptly, leaving a longing for more. The collection is well-crafted, offering insights into important relationships, but it also leaves some threads unfulfilled, resulting in a mixed emotional experience.
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Content warnings include themes of grief, emotional distress, and sudden realizations about aging and loss.
From The Publisher:
A playful and deeply affective short story collection about the histories, technologies, and generational divides that shape our relationships-from the award-winning writer of Days of Distraction
Compelling and perceptive, Tomb Sweeping probes the loyalties we hold: to relatives, to strangers, and to ourselves. In stories set across the US and Asia, Alexandra Chang immerses us in the lives of immigrant families, grocery store employees, expecting parents, and guileless lab assistants.
A woman known only to her neighbors as "the Asian recycling lady" collects bottles from the streets she calls home. A young college grad ponders the void left from a broken friendship. An unfulfilled housewife in Shanghai finds a secret outlet for her ambitions in an undercover gambling den. Two strangers become something more through the bond of mistaken identity.
These characters, adeptly attuned to the mystery of living, invite us to consider whether it is possible for anyone to entirely do right by another. Tomb Sweeping brims with remarkable skill and talent in every story, keeping a definitive pulse on loss, community, and what it means to feel fully alive. With her debut story collection, Chang further establishes herself as "a writer to watch" (New York Times Book Review).
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