Disappearing Moon Cafe by Sky Lee is a fascinating and disturbing novel about four generations of Chinese women that make up the Wong family. Immigrants to Canada in the early 1900’s when there were 10 Chinese men to every 1 woman. This had many disastrous repercussion, one of which was rampant incest.

While trying to keep track of all the people in this family tree and uncover all the secrets of their true identities, I felt quite overwhelmed. The story is told in part by Kae, a 4th generation Wong woman trying to untangle the web of her family’s past. Lee brings the story together by the end, so we have an understanding of the larger picture, but the journey was quite confusing, and not really that enjoyable. None of the characters are developed enough or likable enough to care about.

Still, it is an interesting and honest look at Canada’s Chinese immigrant population, particularly the women.