Kaleidoscope : a novel /

Morgan and Riley Brighton are biracial Chinese American sisters with an inseparable bond. With her fashion sense and eye for aesthetics, Morgan helps out at their parents' luxury goods store. Riley feels too dependent on Morgan and strives to distance herself and come out of her beautiful older sister's shadow. But despite their differences, the sisters find themselves relying on each other through everything. With Morgan's help, their ambitious parents go from poor and struggling in Oregon to incredibly wealthy and successful, living in upstate New York. After a tragic accident befalls the Brightons on the day of Riley's twenty-first birthday, Riley's left to embark on a trip abroad with her sister's boyfriend, and there she comes to understand herself and her sister more as she learns of the experiences that her sister never shared. Telling a beautiful and heartbreaking story through fragments of the sisters' lives, Wong (Diamond Head, 2015) shows how they've been shaped by the many experiences they've lived through, and how different perspectives can change the way we understand the truth.

Wong (Diamond Head) captures the fierce bond and stark differences between two mixed-race Chinese American sisters, one of whom dies in a freak accident, in her penetrating latest. After a family vacation in India, Hank and Karen Liu Brighton open an import and textiles boutique called Kaleidoscope in Eugene, Ore., to cash in on Americans' interest in Eastern aesthetics. Soon, they move to New York City to open a new Kaleidoscope branch, just as their older daughter, Morgan, begins studying at the Parsons School of Design in the city. Morgan becomes the company's main designer, shaping vibrant Indian-inspired textiles into a panoply of culturally appropriated styles such as kimonos and Mexican embroidery, while her sister Riley, ever the observer, studies anthropology at Barnard. Then, Morgan is killed by a collapsed construction crane. Hank and Karen find refuge in sleeping pills and alcohol while Kaleidoscope wanes; Riley blindly wanders Manhattan collecting newspaper articles detailing Morgan's death; and Morgan's boyfriend, James, quits his job and plans a whirlwind monthslong trip abroad accompanied by Riley. After Karen reveals secrets that undermine Riley's impression of her seemingly perfect sister, she wishes she'd been more help to Morgan. The author balances her characters' palpable emotions with whip-smart commentary on cultural commodification, as the sisters joke about their parents' "Doors of the World" fundraiser, in which doors procured from various countries are auctioned off to wealthy donors. It's a smash. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, Gernert Company. (July)

Wong's second novel (after Diamond Head) takes readers into the lives of a biracial Chinese American family headed by Hank and Karen Brighton, who (with help from daughters Morgan and Riley) run a successful business that boasts seven locations between Oregon and New York. Spanning the years 2006 to 2010, the novel focuses primarily on the relationships among members of the Brighton family, especially the two sisters, with Riley often feeling overshadowed by her older sister. When tragedy strikes the Brightons, Riley and James (Morgan's former boyfriend) begin to sell counterfeit designer handbags to garner enough money to travel the world together, living judiciously so that they can stay abroad for about nine months. Upon returning to New York, Riley finds both her parents' marriage and their business unraveling and learns of a dark and shocking secret. VERDICT True to its title, Wong's overarching account of one family's business is told with beautiful imagery but reveals individual pieces that show how things are not what they appear to be. This story of people, culture, and lifestyles will be appreciated by readers who enjoy novels involving families and their secrets, like Celeste Ng's Something I Never Told You and Jean Kwok's Searching for Sylvie Lee.--Shirley Quan

The Brighton family--biracial Chinese American owners of the chic, globally sourced clothing empire Kaleidoscope--may look enviable, but they are far from being as perfect, and as glamorous, as they seem. Riley Brighton grows up in the shadow of her older sister, Morgan. Two years her senior, Morgan is the popular, artistically talented counterpart to Riley's shy, studious self. In the early 2000s, the inseparable duo grow up at their parents' Oregon health foods store until a fateful trip to India leads the family to shift into selling imported apparel and accessories at their new venture, Kaleidoscope. The brand launches to enormous success, and when both daughters enroll in college in New York City, their parents tag along, purchasing a massive Upper West Side townhouse as the new Brighton headquarters despite Riley's desire for independence. When Riley's high school crush, James, visits the townhouse to profile the Brightons for a magazine, worlds intersect and continue to collide when Riley spots James at her favorite under-the-radar downtown noodle joint. Told in beautiful detail with quippy dialogue and visceral New York details, the first half of the book ends with a tragedy that threatens to break apart the family and their business. Riley finds it hard to cope, and she and James eventually jet off to India, traveling the globe while questioning everything they once knew and learning more about the people they love than they ever wanted to know. Told from various perspectives, skipping backward and forward through time, the kaleidoscopic narrative allows readers to form their own opinions about the Brightons and their decisions, getting a glimpse of the way people behave on the worst days of their lives and thereafter. A deftly written family saga that explores--and challenges--the contemporary American dream and the meaning of home and family. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.