Book Review: “Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune” by Roselle Lim

Genre: Contemporary, Fiction

Page Length: 320 pages (electronic review edition)

Synopsis:

At the news of her mother’s death, Natalie Tan returns home. The two women hadn’t spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco’s Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moving out. She’s even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother’s restaurant.

The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant’s fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother’s cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around–she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along. (description from Goodreads)

Review:

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune follows a young woman named Natalie who returns home to Chinatown in San Francisco after her mother’s death. Natalie has been away from home for several years and has been estranged from her mother due to them having arguments on how she should live her life . Natalie is grieving, is struggling with the fact that she never really got to say goodbye to her mother, and feels extreme guilt for being away from home for so long. Going home is a familiar feeling for Natalie while it’s also strange as the neighborhood has changed so much.

Readers see Natalie struggle with her past and feels like her mother’s agoraphobia kept her from having certain experiences growing up and has separated her from the community. Upon coming back home she decides to take over her grandmother’s restaurant and restore it to its glory. Natalie is given her mother grandmother’s recipe book which happens to have some sort of special magical powers (magical realism of some sort) and she has to fulfill a prophecy of helping three of the neighboring businesses and her community in order to have a successful restaurant and to rebuild her neighborhood

One thing Natalie is very passionate about is cooking. She loves to eat delicious food all the time and try new recipes in the kitchen. As Natalie begins to cook her grandmother’s recipes, she starts to find joy and inspiration in her life again. Cooking helps her to reconnect with community she grew up with and reminisce about her childhood. Cooking provides a source strength to move forward and stop harboring mistakes/regrets from the past.

I liked the vivid description of the neighborhood and how even though the businesses is starting to decline that everyone looks out for each other like family. I could picture the shops and restaurants lining the street due to Lim’s great attention to detail. I have been to San Francisco’s Chinatown and it’s one my favorite places I’ve visited.

I love all of the recipes featured and the mouth watering food descriptions. Everything sounds so good!! I enjoyed the concept of Lao Lao’s (Natalie’s grandmother) recipes are not are not only traditional but magical as well. They serve a purpose to help others solve problems, mend relationships, and helps the community to reunite once again.

One of my most favorite things about this novel is the theme of food. It brings people together, cheers people up, mends relationships, makes people nostalgic for memories. Food is a simple thing, but it can be so powerful and Natalie’s recipes are evidence of that in the story.

This is such a beautifully written novel about food, family, tradition, healing, and mental illness. Lim’s writing is engaging and lyrical and it had me engrossed to beginning to end. The characters felt very real and reading the story through Natalie’s eyes was emotional. I liked reading about her journey of honing her craft but also healing from the past and moving towards the future. Recommended read!

*Trigger warning: Death

Final Verdict: