num_pages: 336
description: The life of a young Chinese girl is torn apart by dark family secrets and divided loyalties in a small Ontario town in the 1950s. Judy Fong Bates's fresh and engaging first novel is the story of Su-Jen Chou, a Chinese girl growing up the only daughter of an unhappy and isolated immigrant family in a small Ontario town in the 1950s. Through Su-Jen's eyes we see the hard life behind the scenes at the Dragon Caf, the local diner her family runs. Her half-brother Lee-Kung smolders under the responsibilities he must carry as the dutiful Chinese son. Her mother, beautiful but bitter, lays her hopes and dreams on Su-Jen's shoulders, until she turns to find solace in the most forbidden of places, while Su-Jen's elderly father strives to hek fuh, swallow bitterness, and save face at all costs.
language: English
title: Midnight at the Dragon Cafe
titlecomplete: Midnight at the Dragon Cafe
genres: Asian Literature, Book Club, Coming Of Age, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adult Fiction, Cultural, Canada, China, Family
ratings_count: 1527
places: Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: ALA Alex Award
publisher: Counterpoint