cover image Take Me Home

Take Me Home

Brian Leung, Harper, $24.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-176907-8

Leung's (Lost Men) lyrical sophomore novel follows Addie Maine, a white woman who, 40 years earlier, fled her marriage in 1880s Wyoming after a risky act of compassion saves Chinese immigrant miners. In 1927, she returns to the violently xenophobic town of Dire to be celebrated by a Chinese dignitary for her past effort. Leung's evocative tale backtracks in time as he recounts Addie's teenage trip by train to live with her farmer brother, during which she was unceremoniously schooled about the "coolies," the derogatory term for the Chinese who had been brought from California to work in the Wyoming mines. Addie's brother's eventual failure to produce a lucrative crop forces the siblings to seek jobs in the mines, where Addie meets Wing Lee. Their association incites the ire of the townsfolk and sets violent events in motion. Leung's subtle, perceptive saga closes on notes both touching and patriotic. (Oct.)