Blog tour: All That's Left Unsaid

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Welcome to the blog tour for All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracy Lien!

More about the book…

1996 – Cabramatta, Sydney

‘Just let him go.’

Those are words Ky Tran will forever regret. The words she spoke when her parents called to ask if they should let her younger brother Denny out to celebrate his high school graduation with friends. That night, Denny – optimistic, guileless Denny – is brutally murdered inside a busy restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, a refugee enclave facing violent crime, and an indifferent police force.

Returning home for the funeral, Ky learns that the police are stumped by her brother’s case. Even though several people were present at Denny’s murder, each bystander claims to have seen nothing, and they are all staying silent. 

Determined to uncover the truth, Ky tracks down and questions the witnesses herself. But what she learns goes beyond what happened that fateful night. The silence has always been there, threaded through the generations, and Ky begins to expose the complex traumas weighing on those present the night Denny died. 

As she peels back the layers of the place that shaped her, she must confront more than the reasons her brother is dead. And once those truths have finally been spoken, how can any of them move on?

More about the author…

Tracey Lien was born and raised in southwestern Sydney, Australia. She earned her MFA at the University of Kansas and was previously a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. All That's Left Unsaid is her first novel.

My impressions…

When my wife asked me what this book was about, I told her it was about a young woman trying to find out more about her young brother’s death. Why did he die? Who killed him? And then I added… but that doesn’t really matter. And it’s true, this isn’t your usual thriller or crime novel. It is a raw – something moving, sometimes funny – look at the life of immigrants and their children. It is about pain, about expectations, about a desire to belong, about identity. And still, about friendships, about families and relationships. Multiple narrators give the story an incredible depth and make for a truly unforgettable read.

Three words to describe it. Beautiful. Unforgettable. Unique.

Do I like the cover? It’s gorgeous!

Have I read any other books by the same author? No, this is an incredible debut novel.

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