S. F. Prescott

Heartfelt and tense

Winnie M Li is an author and activist, who has worked in the creative industries over three continents.  Taiwanese-American and raised in New Jersey, Winnie studied Folklore and Mythology at Harvard, and later Irish Literature as a George Mitchell Scholar. Since then, she has written for travel guidebooks, produced independent feature films, programmed for film festivals, and developed eco-tourism projects. After earning an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, she now writes across a range of media, including fiction, theatre, journalism, and memoir.

I’m really enjoying stories about family and multigenerational trauma lately, so I was delighted to receive an early copy of this after devouring the author’s last two books. What We Left Unsaid is Winnie M. Li’s third novel and even though it has a different vibe from her last two, the story still deals with dark themes including racism, sexual assault, and violence. I always enjoy stories set on the open road and this one was particularly interesting because it reunited three estranged siblings with very different lives but who all share the same traumatic memory. A trip to the Grand Canyon that never happened due to an “incident” when they were kids. The characters were interesting and complex, with lots of tension.

A scene I still think about: Alex, Kevin, and Bonnie end up enduring a dangerous confrontation in the desert, requiring them to draw on their unique skills to escape. Details of which are mentioned throughout the book and make the ending all the more satisfying. The pace was steady and Li’s voice, as always, was compelling. I was gripped from the first page.

For readers who want stories about family secrets and revelations, the great American roadtrip, and multicultural themes.

Synopsis:

The Chu siblings haven’t seen each other in years but when they’re told that their ailing mother is scheduled for an operation next month, they agree to visit her together. Then their mother makes an odd request: before seeing her, they must go on a road trip together to the Grand Canyon.

Thirty years ago, a strange incident had aborted a previous family road trip there. No one’s ever really spoken about it, but during thisjourney, the middle-aged Chu siblings have no choice but to confront their childhood experience.

Together, Bonnie, Kevin, and Alex travel along Route 66—but as the trip continues, they realize the Great American Road Trip may not be what they expected. Facing their own prejudices and those of others, they somehow learn to bridge the distances between them, the present-day, and their past.