All That Matters

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From Publishers WeeklyIn Choy's lovingly detailed novel (following The Jade Peony and the memoir Paper Shadows), three-year-old Kiam-Kim Chen journeys from China to Vancouver in 1925 with his father and his grandmother, Poh-Poh (a former Chinese slave girl). As he matures, he gains a stepmother, an adopted brother and two stepsiblings. Poh-Poh's unsettling stories of kitchen gods and ghosts provide vivid reminders of the Old China the family left behind. Set pieces form the novel's core, like Poh-Poh's elaborate preparations for her mah-jongg party when Kiam is eight. That's when he first encounters Jenny Chong, a "tiger" girl with a fierce temper (and, eventually, the good looks to match it). When Poh-Poh dies, Old China's ghosts really do come back—at least the ghost of Poh-Poh (who haunts Kiam's stepbrother, Sekky, so intensely that Kiam's embarrassed father hires an exorcist). As Kiam grows up, the relationship among Kiam, Jenny and Jack O'Connor, the Irish-Catholic boy next door (whom Poh-Poh had barred from their house) gets tangled in the complexities of WWII and the ethnic politics of the neighborhood. Choy's novel captures the spirit in which exile turns into assimilation. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"All That Matters is a quiet and moving book. On the surface, the gentle narrative voice seems to belie the weight and power of the story, but as we read along, the energy accumulates and the momentum accelerates. The novel shows convincingly what is fundamental in humanity, and it also shows the author’s firm belief in human decency. It is a genuine story of the Chens, a family that embodies the real immigrants, `the wretched refuse’ tossed on the American continent.I greatly admire Wayson Choy’s craftmanship demonstrated in this book, particularly his way of blending the personal with the historical, his patience, and his restrained, sublte prose. Above all, his understanding, compassion, and wisdom. This is one of the best novels on the Asian American experience."—Ha Jin, author of War Trash“What a pleasure to read Wayson Choy again. . . . The language, the rhythms and the images are so seductive and often so exquisite . . . a thing of sheer beauty. . . . In delicate balance, Choy holds the ghosts of the past and the resolve to survive in the present, two countries, two cultures, two worlds.”—The Globe and Mail“A new book from Choy is an event. His writing has a quiet integrity and an exquisite grace that can electrify readers . . . Choy’s handling of childhood memory is dazzling. . . . All That Matters is a beautiful novel.”—Maclean’s magazine“A magnificent novel . . . accomplished, heartfelt and true . . . a meditation on memory, love, family and forgiveness — and aren’t they all that matter?”— Toronto Star“Superb . . . Choy’s effortless style is mesmerizing, and his characters are compelling. Perhaps the most enticing aspect of his writing is the glimpse he offers into the vibrant world of Chinese-Canadian culture at a time when they were still no...