''Lives of the Family: Stories of Fate and Circumstance'' is a 2013 non-fiction book by Denise Chong. Her fourth book, it was published by

Random House Canada Random House of Canada was the Canadian distributor for Random House, Inc. from 1944 until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it amalgamated with Penguin Canada to become Penguin Random House Canada. Company history Random House of Canada was established i ...

on October 28, 2013. That same year, Chong became an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

Genre and synopsis

This non-fiction book intertwines stories about Chinese-Canadians who settled in eastern Ontario and western Quebec, primarily in the Ottawa Valley area. Apart from family dynamics, the stories also present the historical and political forces at play in the lives of early Chinese immigrants. Similarly, Chong's award-winning book

The Concubine's Children ''The Concubine's Children: Portrait of a Family Divided'' is a non-fiction book written by Chinese-Canadian writer Denise Chong, first published in January 1995 by Penguin Books. In the book, the author traces her family's history, giving a narr ...

related the story of how her Chinese ancestors came to live in British Columbia, and the hardships and complex relationships that ensued. On September 16, 2014, Vintage Canada published the paperback version of ''Lives of the Family''. Chong also has a website, commissioned by the Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre, which provides readers with extra details gathered during her 2011 and 2012 research and interviews for ''Lives of the Family''.

References and external links

References

{{Reflist 2013 non-fiction books Canadian non-fiction books Chinese-Canadian culture Asian-Canadian literature Random House books