Book Review: River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure

Alva is a Chinese American girl born to a failed American actress who grew up poor in Shanghai in 2005. She is unable to accept her mother Sloan marrying Lu Fang, a rich international businessman, as it destroys her plan to someday go to America, a country that she has never visited but is obsessed with. Little does she realise that there is a past that connects Sloan and Lu Fang, an ambitious soul whose academic dreams are cut short by the Cultural Revolution. This starts a story that spans two entwined generations of multiple cultural identities.

River East, River West is the upcoming debut novel by Aube Rey Lescure. The novel, which is set in China, deals with cultural identity and explores how a change in the political and economic situation of a country can create a crisis in personal relationships and one's sense of self. I received an advance copy of this novel from its publisher, Duckworth Books, through Netgalley in exchange for my honest feedback.

The title River East, River West denotes two districts of Shanghai that are divided by the Huangpu River. River West is the old colonial zone of Shanghai, and River East is the Chinese suburb. The plot of the novel is essentially a tug of war between two cultures—Chinese and American—and its effect on the characters. Alva is the main casualty, having belonged to both sides. When Alva has to choose between two campuses of an American school, she chooses the one in River West, indicating her interest in being an American. Her mother, Sloan, has abandoned America because she feels that being an expatriate in China will give her the respect that America never gave her. But her life in China was not a walk on roses either.

The academic pursuit of Lu Fang was culled by the Cultural Revolution. He had to contend with being a pen pusher, but later, when the economic policies changed, he struggled and became a wealthy businessman. He wanted his son, from his first wife, to pursue studies and a career in America. But his son, who never had to face the adversities that Lu Fang faced, never felt the need. Thus, we find that all the major characters are in a state of dilemma, and their ambitions and desires are contradictory to each other's.

Chinese policies and reforms play a major role in determining the motives of the characters. Sloan's satiation of her need for respect and privilege, Lu Fang's desparation to move away from China and his decision to prepare his son to pursue it when he realises it's impossible for him to do it, and Alva's desparation to identify herself as an American and her resultant descent into the rabbit hole all stemmed basically from societal conditions that arose from them.

Except for Sloan, who has experienced it firsthand and knows the reality, America is a dream world for all others. All of them have preconceived notions about life there, which are shaped by the American symbols they see around them in a newly liberalised China. We see several American brands and pop culture references popping up frequently in the narrative. At one point, Alva even asks a person who did a barbaric act if he would dare to do it if he were in America.

The novel follows a non-linear narration from the alternating points of view of Alva and Lu Fang. Alva's sections span a time period from 2007 to 2008 and Lu Fang's from 1985 to 2005. The novelist uses this format successfully to frequently topple the reader's expectations. We form conclusions from the information that is available to us, but in the next chapter, a new twist or turn shifts the narrative to a different angle.

The generational gap is a frequent motif that reappears in the novel. Sloan and Lu Fang have expectations from their children, and they enforce these without considering the reactions of their kids. They have good intentions in mind, but the rigidity of the parents' behaviour only serves to drive the kids away. Another example is the plight of Alva's friend Gao, who is also a victim of an over-disciplinary father. Another interesting element that the writer uses repeatedly is the fall from heights, both literally and metaphorically. We find this used to contrast the characters. Some of them fall and survive, while others don't. The final act begins the biggest fall of them all, the fall of the Lehman Brothers.

River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure is a devastating story of human beings who are essentially pawns of the bigger machinery that runs the system—local and global econopolitics. But reading it, we realise that they still have the power to adapt if they are ready to stand together as a unit, accepting each other.