All That’s Left Unsaid
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4.2 • 154 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
‘A complex, harrowing look into the impacts on trauma on a community, written with the urgent pace of a thriller and peppered with moments of levity’ Vogue Australia
'An unforgettable debut, utterly compelling from start to finish. Original. Heartbreaking. Gripping. I just loved it!' Liane Moriarty
‘Poignant and impeccable storytelling’ Oprah Daily
‘An extraordinary work of Australian literature about who we are as a nation. This book deserves to be a classic in our literary canon. Profoundly moving, riveting, tender and heartbreaking. What a read. Tracey Lien is a major new voice in our literary landscape and I can’t wait to read what she writes next. Bravo’ Nikki Gemmell
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There were a dozen witnesses to Denny Tran’s brutal murder in a busy Sydney restaurant. So how come no one saw anything?
‘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. That night in 1996, Denny – optimistic, guileless, brilliant Denny – is brutally murdered inside a busy restaurant in Cabramatta, a Sydney suburb facing violent crime, an indifferent police force, and the worst heroin epidemic in Australian history.
Returning home for the funeral, Ky learns that the police are stumped by her brother’s case: several people were at Lucky 8 restaurant when Denny died, but each of the bystanders claim to have seen nothing.
As an antidote to grief and guilt, Ky is determined to track down the witnesses herself. With each encounter, she peels away another layer of the place that shaped her and Denny,exposing the trauma and seeds of violence that were planted well before that fateful celebration dinner: by colonialism, by the war in Vietnam,and by the choices they’ve all made to survive.
Tracey Lien's extraordinary debut pulls apart the intricate bonds of friendship, family, culture and community that produced a devastating crime. All That's Left Unsaid is both a study of the effects of inherited trauma and social discrimination, and a compulsively readable literary thriller that expertly holds the reader in its grip until the final page.
About the author
Born and raised in South Western Sydney, Australia, Tracey Lien earned her MFA at the University of Kansas and was previously a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Tracey now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
All That’s Left Unsaid is her debut novel and is the winner of the Australian Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction, and the MUD Literary Prize. It has also been shortlisted for the Literary Fiction Book of the Year and The Matt Richell Award for New Writers in the ABIA Awards, as well as being a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
For more information about Tracey and her writing, follow her at @hellotraceylien on Instagram.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Tracey Lien’s remarkable debut is set in 1990s Cabramatta—a dangerous suburb where heroin is cheap and plentiful, and junkies, gangsters and dealers abound. But drugs aren’t part of the Tran family culture, so the lives of main character Ky and her Vietnamese refugee parents are rocked when their brother and son, star student Denny, is murdered in a restaurant on the night of his high school graduation. When the police fail to act, Ky tries to uncover what happened to her beloved brother. None of the witnesses will talk, so Ky must transcend her grief and the community’s fear to find the truth. Lien’s expert grasp on the narrative means the past and the present are within equal reach for the characters, giving a strong sense of the way history reverberates for the Trans. All That’s Left Unsaid is about racism, intergenerational trauma and the unfairness of life, but it’s also about the motivating and binding force of love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1996, Lien's insightful, emotional debut intelligently incorporates cultural concerns into a tightly focused mystery. Journalist Ky Tran has just launched her career as a newspaper reporter when she returns home to her Vietnamese community of Cabramatta, Australia, for the funeral of her popular 17-year-old brother, Denny, who was beaten to death at the Lucky 8 restaurant on the night of his high school graduation. Since Ky's grief-stricken parents, who speak limited English, are incapable of pushing for answers, and the police are stymied because none of the dozens of bystanders at the Lucky 8, some family friends, will admit to witnessing Denny's murder, she decides to investigate herself. Ky must maneuver around her parents' traditional ways, fear of white people, and superstitions rooted in their Vietnamese culture. The 100% white police force is, at best, indifferent as the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta is a refugee enclave with the worst heroin epidemic in Australian history and where violent crime is the norm. Lien skillfully blends xenophobia and the Vietnamese residents' suspicions of outsiders into a scintillating plot. Readers will eagerly await Lien's next.
Customer Reviews
Brilliantly provoking
I found this book randomly and was intrigued with the description. Australian history and culture has always been something. I loved reading the history throughout the 90’s. The nostalgia and small accurate details were perfect. My heart broke for the main characters family and how tough it was for all the characters growing up. The ending seemed rushed and I was left with questions but otherwise a must read. It should be in the Australian School Curriculum.
Celeste Ng homage?
3.5 stars
Australian-born author of Vietnamese refugee parents, who grew up in western Sydney. Became a journalist. Moved to US. Worked for LA Times then did MFA at U Kansas. Now lives in Brooklyn. This is her first novel.
Sydney in the 1990s. Ky is an early 20s Vietnamese-Australian, born and raised by her refugee parents in Cabramatta. Now a journo in Melbourne. Returns home for funeral of her gifted younger brother, bashed to death in a popular local restaurant on the evening of his school graduation/formal. Mucho witnesses, but no one saw anything. (Cabramatta was heroin central at the time.) The police aren’t getting anywhere with their investigation. In unofficial liaison with a sympathetic constable, our gal makes enquiries, IDs the perp and learns some home truths. Readers get a picture of life in Vietnamese Cabramatta back in the day.
Multiple POVs although mainly that of the protagonist. The prose varies. In some parts, Ms Lien’s journalist roots predominate. The many interior monologues are pure creative writing MFA. Whether this counterpoint was intentional, I cannot say.
The racism portrayed, while undoubtedly real, felt “overcooked” at times, possibly due to the author’s having lived in the USA for so long.
There are strong similarities to Celeste Ng’s debut, Everything I Never Told You (2014), and not just the title. It was better IMHO, but I’m pale, male, and stale. What would I know?
Footnote
At medical school, I was described as being like steatorrhoea: pale, bulky, and offensive. Pale, male and stale is a step up from that.
Reminiscent and heartbreaking
Being from Sydney and growing up in the 90s, this book made me remember all those small details that reminded me of that time. I felt connected because of these intricate details that brought the story to life. I felt many feelings while reading the book, such as sadness and empathy. I had immigrant parents too, and reading this book made me feel like I understood them more than I have before. It’s a beautiful and sad story told wonderfully.