Monkey Hunting
Monkey Hunting by Cristina Garcia, published by Alfred A. Knopf on April 15, 2003, is a novel that traces the journey of a family from China to Cuba and eventually to America. This first edition spans 272 pages and is presented in English. The narrative begins in 1857 with Chen Pan, who signs a contract that leads him to Cuba, where he faces enslavement on a sugarcane plantation. The story unfolds as he escapes and builds a life in Havana’s Chinatown, ultimately intertwining his fate with that of his descendants.
Readers will find a rich exploration of immigration and assimilation through the lives of Chen Pan and his descendants, including his granddaughter, Chen Fang, and great-great-grandson, Domingo. The novel delves into their struggles for identity and belonging against the backdrop of historical events, including Mao’s regime and Castro’s revolution. Garcia’s lyrical prose vividly captures the emotional depth of their experiences, making Monkey Hunting a poignant reflection on the complexities of cultural heritage and the quest for a place in the world.
Official synopsis Publisher
The new novel—her first in six years—from the acclaimed author of Dreaming in Cuban and The Agüero Sisters follows one family from China to Cuba to America in an emotionally resonant tale of immigration, assimilation, and the powerful integrity of self.
In 1857, when Chen Pan signs a contract that will take him from China “beyond the edge of the world to Cuba,” he has no idea that he will be enslaved on a sugarcane plantation . . . or that he will eventually, miraculously, escape his bonds and embark on a prosperous life in Havana’s Chinatown . . . or that he will buy a mulatto woman out of slavery and take her into his home and heart . . . or that he will end his long days in Havana, surrounded by children and grandchildren, as Cuban as he is Chinese.
In a vivid tapestry of incident and feeling, Chen Pan’s life story is interwoven with those of two of his descendants: his granddaughter, Chen Fang, born in China and raised as a boy so she could be educated, her life coming to its end in one of Mao’s hellish prisons, and Domingo, Chen Pan’s great-great-grandson, who, with his father, becomes an American citizen after Castro’s revolution, only to lose his parent to the false promises of the American dream, and himself, finally, to the madness of wartime Vietnam.
Deeply stirring, wonderfully evocative of time and place, rendered in the lyrical prose that is Cristina García’s hallmark, Monkey Hunting brilliantly illuminates a generations-long struggle toward a sense of true belonging.
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