#Review: Family Trust by Kathy Wang @bykathywang @HoZ_Books @clare_esme #FamilyTrust

Release date - 13th December 2018 (Hardback UK)
Book length - 385 pages
Publisher - Head of Zeus
Worldwide - www.bookdepository.com
Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk
Amazon US - www.amazon.com

I want to thank Clare from headofzeus.com for providing me with a copy of this book for review.


ABOUT THIS BOOK

Meet Stanley Huang: Father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable temper, aficionado of bargain luxury goods. He's just been diagnosed with cancer, and his family are dealing with the fall-out. 

Meet Stanley's family: Son Fred, a banker who never has enough money; daughter Kate, juggling a difficult boss and her two small children; ex-wife Linda, suspicious of Stanley's grand gestures; and second wife Mary, giver of foot rubs and ego massages. 

Meet Stanley's fortune: As the Huangs come to terms with Stanley's approaching death, they are starting to fear that there's a lot less in the pot than they thought. And that's a problem when you're living in one of the wealthiest parts of California...


MY REVIEW

FAMILY TRUST by Kathy Wang is a dry and witty look at a wealthy family in Silicon Valley at a changing point in their lives when they receive some unexpected news.

Stanley Huang has found out that he has pancreatic cancer and it doesn't look good. His reaction is to try every herbal remedy and meditation practice his much younger second wife recommends while at the same time trying to get his adult children and his ex-wife to pander to his every need despite his treatment of them over the years. What he won't do is make his will and let them all know what they can expect to inherit when he passes.

​Meanwhile, both of his children have their own issues to deal with from feeling unfulfilled at work and dreaming of playing with the big boys to a marriage falling apart and that is just for starters. And then there is Linda, Stanley's first wife who made all of Stanley's money for him and who cannot really stand the sight of him if she were really honest. She has enough to occupy her with her new foray into the modern dating scene. But she would like to know that her children won't be left wanting when Stanley passes, that is if he has anything left at all ...

I have seen this book compared to Crazy Rich Asians and I can definitely see the similarities but there is a much more serious and emotional edge to FAMILY TRUST by Kathy Wang and I found this story very compelling. Each of the characters fascinated me and while I didn't particularly like any of them, that didn't stop me from wanting to know more so it was no surprise when I read this book in one evening. There is technical, power-house, business type lingo throughout but the setting is Silicon Valley so it is to be expected and made the story realistic. 

FAMILY TRUST by Kathy Wang is a layered family drama that would translate to tv really well and I thoroughly enjoyed it.


AUTHOR BIO

Kathy Wang grew up in Northern California and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Business School. Family Trust is her first novel.

For more information:
Website - www.bykathywang.com
Twitter - twitter.com/bykathywang
Facebook - www.facebook.com/bykathywang
Instagram - www.instagram.com/bykathywang/