Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune

Lush and visual,chock-full of delicious recipesRoselle LimΓÇÖs magical debut novel is about foodheritageand finding family in the most unexpected places. At the news of her motherΓÇÖs deathNatalie Tan returns home. The two women hadnΓÇÖt spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years agowhen her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San FranciscoΓÇÖs Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fadingwith businesses failing and families moving out. SheΓÇÖs even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmotherΓÇÖs restaurant. The neighborhood seer reads the restaurantΓÇÖs fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmotherΓÇÖs cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. UnfortunatelyNatalie has no desire to help them try to turn things aroundΓÇöshe resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romanceNatalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.