Rental House

ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE” 2024 “One of the most nuanced, astute critiques of America now I’ve read in years. And it’s also frequently hilarious. ” —Los Angeles Times “ [For] basically anyone who is breathing, Rental House is a must-read." —San Francisco Chronicle “Sharp; insightful, occasionally heartbreaking, and incredibly relatable.” —Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow “For anyone who’s experienced demanding parents, misunderstanding in-laws, a vacation-gone-wrong, or mid-life questions about how to reconcile your own personality liabilities with those of the person you love most.” —Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot From the award-winning author of Chemistry, a sharp-witted, insightful novel about a marriage as seen through the lens of two family vacations Keru and Nate are college sweethearts who marry despite their family differences: Keru’s strict, Chinese, immigrant parents demand perfection (“To use a dishwasher is to admit defeat;” says her father), while Nate’s rural, white, working-class family distrusts his intellectual ambitions and his “foreign” wife. Some years into their marriage, the couple invites their families on vacation. At a Cape Cod beach house, and later at a luxury Catskills bungalow, Keru, Nate, and their giant sheepdog navigate visits from in-laws and unexpected guests, all while wondering if they have what it takes to answer the big questions: How do you cope when your spouse and your family of origin clash? How many people (and dogs) make a family? And when the pack starts to disintegrate, what can you do to shepherd everyone back together? With her “wry; wise, and simply spectacular” style (People) and “hilarious deadpan that recalls Gish Jen and Nora Ephron” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Weike Wang offers a portrait of family that is equally witty, incisive, and tender.