Meddy desperately wants to break free from the confines set by her family.
As the last of her generation to stick around, she always heard about the disappointment associated with her cousins leaving. So she chose a college close to home and when she graduated, she joined the new family business. Where she's been ever since.
But on the weekend of one of their biggest weddings, she begrudgingly agrees to go on a blind date with the owner of the new resort where the wedding will take place—and accidentally kills the man. With the help of her three aunts and her mother, they plan to dispose of the body, but everything goes completely upside down with it's delivered to the wedding by mistake. Throw in some very unusual wedding day drama, some unhappy local officials, and a brewing storm and you have the recipe for a hilarious madcap disaster!
Oh, how I loved this book!
Meddy is a wonderful narrator! A woman stuck between her own hopes and dreams and the expectations of family, with the added complication of her being a first generation American in a family of immigrant women whose own parents moved from China to Indonesia.
Meddy admits that her Mandarin and Indonesian are terrible. But otherwise she's done pretty much all she can to keep her mother and her three aunts happy. And if that means sticking around in a job that's very much less than exciting, that's what she'll do.
But she's been single since college and her mother really wants her to settle down. Which is how she finds herself on a blind date with a man her mother has been chatting to (as Meddy) on a dating app. And things do not go well!
Meddy's aunts are fabulous! Though she is the narrator, each of the aunts and her mother all come through as splendidly built characters with huge personalities! And they each comprise one component of the family wedding business: the oldest of them is the pastry chef, next in line does hair and makeup, Meddy's mother is the florist, and the youngest is the singer. And then Meddy is the photographer. And things have gone really well for their business. But Meddy isn't happy. And hasn't been for some time.
Until now, her biggest issue has been trying to find a way to broach the topic of leaving the business...
Dial A For Aunties is a great read! It's all about family, relationships, and the weight of culture and expectations. And it comes in a lighthearted and funny package that had me laughing out loud and desperate to find out what would happen next!
This is definitely going to be one of my favorite reads this year :)
Order a copy from your favorite indie via Bookshop!
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