Written by Liz Boccolini
Kathy Wang’s debut novel examines the relationships and expectations of the Huangs, a Taiwanese-American family in the Bay Area of California. Stanley Huang, the family’s patriarch, is an overconfident man in his 70’s who is optimistic despite his recent pancreatic cancer diagnosis. His ex-wife, Linda, wants as little to do with him as possible, considering she initiated their divorce. Their adult children, Fred and Kate, each have their own problems to deal with: Fred is unhappy with his cog-in-the-wheel job at an investment firm and is struggling in his rocky relationship with his girlfriend, Erika, while Kate suspects her husband, Denny, is not working as hard as he claims to be on his startup business.
But there is one bright spot: the inheritance. According to Stanley’s second wife, Kathy, Stanley is worth seven million dollars, and a third will go her, a third to Fred, and a third to Kate. But Linda knows Stanley has always been terrible with money, and she pesters Stanley to get his will in order so the family knows exactly where they stand.
Family Trust paints a vivid portrait of life in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, where technology rules. Most of the family seems to be obsessed with status, which makes reading about them slightly off-putting. The worst offender is Fred. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Fred believes he should be much further along in his career than he is now. He despises his bosses and his company and is envious of those who have impressive job titles and salaries. Even when an old Harvard classmate invites him to the exclusive “Founders’ Retreat” in Bali, Fred spends more time feeling sorry for himself and less time trying to network with the people he both admires and envies.
Stanley also cares deeply about appearances. He brings Kathy to his financial advisor, Patricia, so she can see how smart and wealthy he is, but it doesn’t go exactly as planned. After Patricia tells Stanley he likes “to get a little daring” with his money, Stanley is insulted, telling Kathy that Patricia doesn’t know what he’s done with his money and that he knows better, despite Patricia being the financial expert.
As he comes to his final weeks, Stanley tells Linda he wants to start a foundation so that his legacy can live on. “It’s what great men do, isn’t it?” he asks.
“But, Stanley,” Linda tells him, “you aren’t great.”
Linda tries to tell Stanley he doesn’t have nearly enough money to start a foundation (he needs at least 50 million dollars, she says), but Stanley is so determined to impress others that he waves away her concern. Whether Stanley truly doesn’t know what his family thinks of him or chooses to remain aloof is unclear, but it is obvious that everyone but Mary has a negative view of Stanley. On the one hand, it is sad to think that Stanley will die with very little respect, but on the other hand, his ego and bad decisions don’t garner much of it.
Refreshingly, both Kate and Linda are the breadwinners of their families, though this does cause problems for Kate, whose sole income is supporting her husband, who is supposedly trying to launch a startup, and their two young children. It’s unfortunate that Kate becomes a bit of a stereotypical successful woman whose husband, instead of being supportive, tells her she’s lucky to be where she is. “You think you would have gotten this far at any other company? Or if you had to do it on your own, like I am?” Denny asks. “The reason you got where you are isn’t because you’re so smart. It isn’t because you made such great decisions. It’s because you and a few thousand other people got lucky.” Kate’s storyline is a double-edged sword: it shows her to be a smart, capable modern woman, but it also falls back on the seemingly most common outcome for smart, capable modern women: the struggling marriage. However, between Kate and Fred, Kate is much more likeable, more levelheaded, and less consumed with career and money, which makes her preferable to her brother, whose selfishness and petulance made his story occasionally cringe-worthy.
Despite some unlikable characters, the book itself is very likeable. The story moves quickly and the characters are well-developed. The Huangs seem to inhabit a world centered on wealth and titles, and this book does a very good job portraying the effects of letting those things rule your life. While it’s true that having more money would solve a lot of problems for a lot of people, it’s likely that no matter how much the Huangs have, they’ll still be unhappy.
Family Trust is now available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Meet Stanley Huang: father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable tastes and temper, aficionado of all-inclusive vacations and bargain luxury goods, newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For years, Stanley has claimed that he’s worth a small fortune. But the time is now coming when the details of his estate will finally be revealed, and Stanley’s family is nervous.
For his son Fred, the inheritance Stanley has long alluded to would soothe the pain caused by years of professional disappointment. By now, the Harvard Business School graduate had expected to be a financial tech god – not a minor investor at a middling corporate firm, where he isn’t even allowed to fly business class.
Stanley’s daughter, Kate, is a middle manager with one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious tech companies. She manages the capricious demands of her world-famous boss and the needs of her two young children all while supporting her would-be entrepreneur husband (just until his startup gets off the ground, which will surely be soon). But lately, Kate has been sensing something amiss; just because you say you have it all, it doesn’t mean that you actually do.
Stanley’s second wife, Mary Zhu, twenty-eight years his junior, has devoted herself to making her husband comfortable in every way—rubbing his feet, cooking his favorite dishes, massaging his ego. But lately, her commitment has waned; caring for a dying old man is far more difficult than she expected.
Linda Liang, Stanley’s first wife, knows her ex better than anyone. She worked hard for decades to ensure their financial security, and is determined to see her children get their due. Single for nearly a decade, she might finally be ready for some romantic companionship. But where does a seventy-two year old Chinese woman in California go to find an appropriate boyfriend?
As Stanley’s death approaches, the Huangs are faced with unexpected challenges that upend them and eventually lead them to discover what they most value. A compelling tale of cultural expectations, career ambitions and our relationships with the people who know us best, Family Trust skewers the ambition and desires that drive Silicon Valley and draws a sharply loving portrait of modern American family life.
