Livonia chow mein : a novel / Abigail Savitch-Lew.
In 1978, two tenements on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville burn to the ground, killing one resident and displacing dozens of others. It remains unclear who set the buildings ablaze, but the survivors are convinced the culprit is Mr. Wong. Who exactly is Mr. Wong, and what allegedly drove him to this extraordinary act of violence, is the question that consumes this novel as it plunges into four generations of Wong family history. First is Koon Lai, an immigrant who runs a Chinese restaurant on Livonia Avenue; second, his son Richard, a man desperate for his own chance at the American Dream; and third, Jason, a poet who seeks his escape in the bohemian counterculture of the 1970s but finds himself an unwitting participant in Brooklyn's gentrification. In the 21st century, Jason's daughter Sadie returns to Brownsville as a journalist, determined to unravel the mystery of what happened decades earlier on the night the buildings blazed. Joining together the present and the past is the community organizer Lina Rodriguez Armstrong, who was also displaced by that fire and who has spent the intervening years fighting for the rights of Brownsville's residents and organizing a Livonia Avenue community land trust.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781668075234
- ISBN: 1668075237
- Physical Description: xi, 354 pages : maps ; 24 cm
- Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2026.
- Copyright: ©2026
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Available copies
- 17 of 22 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
- 2 of 2 copies available at Onslow County Public Library.
Holds
- 1 current hold with 22 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richlands Branch Library | FIC SAVITCH-LEW (Text) | 36015000777793 | Adult New Fiction | Available | - |
| Sneads Ferry Branch Library | FIC SAVITCH-LEW (Text) | 36015000777736 | Adult New Fiction | Available | - |
