Going through memorabilia, letters and photos to write her illuminating new memoir had “the force of glaciers calving”, writes Tan. Her deep dive into documents brings insights into her writing process (she is eloquent on the value of emotional memory and intuition, honest about how haltingly she writes). She describes the impact of the death of her older brother when she was in her teens, and of her father six months later, both from brain tumors. She details her fraught relationship with her mother, and shares family secrets that have informed her work (her mother left behind three daughters in Shanghai when she came to the US; her grandmother committed suicide). Perhaps the most powerful takeaway: “My childhood with its topsy-turvy emotions has, in fact, been a reason to write.” (Credit: Ecco)