The Third Son

by Julie Wu

Overview

"Clear your schedule! The Third Son is your next obsessive read. Julie Wu's book reads like an instant classic." -Lydia Netzer, author of Shine Shine Shine

In the middle of a terrifying air raid in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, Saburo, the least-favored son of a Taiwanese politician, runs through a forest for cover. It's there he stumbles on Yoshiko, whose descriptions of her loving family are to Saburo like a glimpse of paradise. Meeting her is a moment he will remember forever, and for years he will try to find her again. When he finally does, she is by the side of his oldest brother and greatest rival.

In Saburo, author Julie Wu has created an extraordinary character, determined to fight for everything he needs and wants, from food to education to his first love. The Third Son is a sparkling and moving story about a young boy with his head in the clouds who, against all odds, finds himself on the frontier of America's space program.

"An appealing coming-of-age story packed with vivid historical detail." -The Christian Science Monitor

"A boy growing up in Japanese-occupied Taiwan in the 1940s will do anything to escape his tormenting family and reconnect with his first love in this compelling work of fiction." -O: The Oprah Magazine

"Deceptively simple, deeply compelling . . . An unusually awful sibling rivalry, a stunningly pure and inspiring love story." -The Boston Globe

"Wu presents an alluring story that hits all the right emotional buttons and maintains readers' empathy from the first page to the last." -Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616203276
Publisher:	Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication date:	05/27/2014
Pages:	338
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

After graduating from Harvard with a BA in Literature, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Julie Wu received an MD at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She has received a writing grant from the Vermont Studio Center and won a 2012 Massachusetts Cultural Council fellowship. Her website is www.juliewuauthor.com.

What People are Saying About This

Unpublished endorsements

“From the first page of her debut novel, Julie Wu effortlessly slips us into Saburo's world--a life that begins in hardship and cruelty in 1940s Taiwan, but eventually finds happiness and fulfillment in the American Dream.I was entranced by this tale ofan immigrant who boldly makes a new future for himself out of the wreckage of a Dickensian childhood.The Third Sonis aboutlove lost, love regained, and--most of all--love's endurance. Julie Wu has taken the story of her own parents and turned it into a universal story that will have everyone cheering for Saburo and Yoshiko, two lovers whose faith in each other spans continents and oceans.” —David Abrams, author of Fobbit

“A talented young writer has arrived. And you'll be hearing a lot about her new novel,The Third Son.It's a wonderful debut filled with compelling characters and riveting drama. Do not miss it.” —William Martin,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Lincoln Letter

“Clear your schedule!The Third Sonis your next obsessive read. Julie Wu’s book reads like an instant classic. This electrifying story of human yearning, perseverance, and love, introduces an unlikely hero who struggles to prevail against the limitations of his birth in embattled midcentury Taiwan. His experiences are authentically foreign, as we see post-WWII America through his eyes, and yet compellingly familiar, as heendures trials of mind, body, and spirit, persevering against brutal circumstances to risk everything for love and for his future.Wu's storytelling is masterful.” —Lydia Netzer, author ofShine Shine Shine

“An epic and beautiful debut, Wu had me rooting for her hero right from the very start.The Third Sonis a novel of chances and choices, love and loyalty, hope and heartache. A magnificently inspiring story of one man's odyssey to freedom.” —Carol Rifka Brunt, author ofTell the Wolves I'm Home

“This novel has it all: mystery, family, the sweep of history, humor. Once you begin to read the story of Saburo Tong, you won't be able to put it down.” —Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author ofSomebody's Daughter

“This novel opens with a blast of machine-gun fire, as a schoolboydelivers a girl from death during World War II. Julie Wu spins afable of borders—between childhood and adulthood, Taiwan andAmerica. In deceptively simple prose, Wu evokes the heartache ofpeople caught in the middle.” —Pagan Kennedy, author ofConfessions of a Memory Eater

Editorial Reviews

"A boy growing up in Japanese-occupied Taiwan in the 1940s will do anything to escape his tormenting family and reconnect with his first love in this compelling work of fiction." --O: The Oprah Magazine

"A stunningly pure and inspiring love story . . . Deeply compelling." --The Boston Globe

"Wu's debut novel is an appealing coming-of-age story packed with vivid historical detail." --The Christian Science Monitor

"Wu presents an alluring story that hits all the right emotional buttons and maintains readers' empathy from the first page to the last." --Kirkus Reviews

"You may have read other Asian American historical novels, but you've never read anything like Julie Wu's affecting and emotional The Third Son. It's one of the don't-miss books of the year." --Beth Fish Reads

"With great authority and skill, Wu depicts not just the grand events of the era, such as the Kuomintang (KMT)'s arrival in Taiwan and the brutal occupation that followed, but also the small, private moments of life . . . The Third Son should be the start of a very successful writing career for Julie Wu, and I hope she will not need long to write her next novel--I'm excited to read it." --Fiction Writers Review

-- "Reviews"

From the Publisher

“A boy growing up in Japanese-occupied Taiwan in the 1940s will do anything to escape his tormenting family and reconnect with his first love in this compelling work of fiction.” —O: The Oprah Magazine

“A stunningly pure and inspiring love story . . . Deeply compelling.” —The Boston Globe

“Wu's debut novel is an appealing coming-of-age story packed with vivid historical detail.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“Wu presents an alluring story that hits all the right emotional buttons and maintains readers’ empathy from the first page to the last.” —Kirkus Reviews

“You may have read other Asian American historical novels, but you've never read anything like Julie Wu's affecting and emotional The Third Son. It's one of the don't-miss books of the year.” —Beth Fish Reads

“With great authority and skill, Wu depicts not just the grand events of the era, such as the Kuomintang (KMT)'s arrival in Taiwan and the brutal occupation that followed, but also the small, private moments of life . . . The Third Son should be the start of a very successful writing career for Julie Wu, and I hope she will not need long to write her next novel--I'm excited to read it.” —Fiction Writers Review

Reviews

A stunningly pure and inspiring love story.”
—The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

Compelling.”
—O Magazine

O Magazine

In 1943 in Taiwan, Saburo, the third son of a respected family, endures a life of hardship. Narrator David Shih reads his story—told in the first person in a sober and matter-of-fact style. Saburo is held in disdain by his family and is an outsider among his peers. The dreamy and intelligent child develops into an ambitious young man who eventually, against all odds, finds himself studying in America and playing a part in rocket research, all the while struggling to bring his wife and child to join him. Shih’s narration perfectly matches the character of Saburo, a likable man who confronts life and its challenges straight on, while struggling with often misplaced self-doubt. K.J.P. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

JULY 2013 - AudioFile