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Why Didn't You Tell Me?: A Memoir by Carmen…
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Why Didn't You Tell Me?: A Memoir (original 2022; edition 2022)

by Carmen Rita Wong (Author)

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905303,013 (3.54)1
"Carmen Rita Wong-media entrepreneur, former national television host, author and advice columnist-has always craved a sense of belonging. First, in a warm room full of Black and brown Latina women cheering on her dancing during her childhood in Harlem. Then, among the almost exclusively white playgrounds of New Hampshire, after her mother married her stepfather, Charlie, who seemed to be the ideal of the white American dad. She had always believed what her mother told her: that her father was a man named Peter Wong, a Chinese hustler whom she was forced to marry for a green card. But then, as Carmen's mother was dying of cancer, Charlie revealed that he was actually her father-a painful revelation made all the more confusing when a DNA test later proved that neither Peter nor Charlie was her father. It was too late for answers. Her mother had passed away. Carmen wanted to shake her mother's soul at its shoulders and demand: "Why didn't you tell me?" What follows is Carmen's search for understanding of who she is as she peels back the layers of her mother's history and the secrets that seep out. Why Didn't You Tell Me? is a riveting and poignant story of Carmen's experience of race and culture in America and how it shapes who we think we are"--… (more)
Member:CasSprout
Title:Why Didn't You Tell Me?: A Memoir
Authors:Carmen Rita Wong (Author)
Info:Crown (2022), 240 pages
Collections:Your library
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Why Didn’t You Tell Me?: A Memoir by Carmen Rita Wong (2022)

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Showing 5 of 5
Imagine being 31 when you find out that the man who raised you isn't your biological father, stripping you of your race, culture, and identity all in one confession. How do you react? How do you process? How do you rediscover who you are?

Carmen Rita Wong's journey to understand, reclaim, and forgive the secrets her mother kept from her is gripping, beautiful, crushing, and overall so moving. ( )
  pidgeysbooks | Sep 9, 2023 |
I liked this book. Sure there's anger, conflict, racism, family dysfunction, but there's also the love of a family, recognition of connectedness whether it's cultural, family, DNA: and there's strength & discovery of self and understanding and acceptance of the imperfections of parents and ourselves. Worthy read. ( )
  EllenH | Aug 22, 2022 |
I know mine is not the most popular opinion, but I was not a fan of Why Didn’t You Tell Me? Let met start by commending the author for having the courage to put pen to paper and write about her experiences. That alone is worthy of my respect, and I can tell by the feel of this story that it was tough to write.

The biggest thing that struck me about this novel was the tremendous amount of tension and bitterness that leaps off the pages. It is written almost like one would write in a diary, to vent and deal with unresolved issues, and less like the paternal mystery I had assumed this novel was going to be about. I picked up and put down this book so many times that I finally resorted to skimming, and even then it was a struggle. Maybe I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be reading such a deep subject matter, and I again commend the author for sharing her truth. It just wasn’t an enjoyable read for me.

*I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I received from Crown Publishing through NetGalley. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own. ( )
  cflores0420 | Aug 8, 2022 |
nonfiction/memoir - daughter from a Dominican family learns, in her 30s, that the Taiwanese/Chinese-American hustler dad she grew up with not her biological dad, and that his marriage to her mother (then just a tennaged girl) was part of her abuelo's plan to bring his mistress and family over to the U.S. ( )
  reader1009 | Aug 7, 2022 |
Why Didn't You Tell Me? is a well-written book that had me engaged from the first chapter! A powerful storyline and inspiring read. Secrets are damaging and the author did a great job of putting her story out there for others to relate to or sympathize with. Highly recommend! ( )
  BridgetteS | Jul 1, 2022 |
Showing 5 of 5
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Epigraph
When you bury the truth,
      
     you bury it alive.
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For my brother,
Alex “Aldodado” Wong
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My youngest sister only recently gave me a photograph that she had found in our dad’s closet.
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"Carmen Rita Wong-media entrepreneur, former national television host, author and advice columnist-has always craved a sense of belonging. First, in a warm room full of Black and brown Latina women cheering on her dancing during her childhood in Harlem. Then, among the almost exclusively white playgrounds of New Hampshire, after her mother married her stepfather, Charlie, who seemed to be the ideal of the white American dad. She had always believed what her mother told her: that her father was a man named Peter Wong, a Chinese hustler whom she was forced to marry for a green card. But then, as Carmen's mother was dying of cancer, Charlie revealed that he was actually her father-a painful revelation made all the more confusing when a DNA test later proved that neither Peter nor Charlie was her father. It was too late for answers. Her mother had passed away. Carmen wanted to shake her mother's soul at its shoulders and demand: "Why didn't you tell me?" What follows is Carmen's search for understanding of who she is as she peels back the layers of her mother's history and the secrets that seep out. Why Didn't You Tell Me? is a riveting and poignant story of Carmen's experience of race and culture in America and how it shapes who we think we are"--

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