Livonia Chow Mein

“First-time novelist Savitch-Lew is on a mission in this ardently researched,many-faceted neighborhood saga of immigration, race, desperation, and aspiration…forthright, illuminating, and provocative.” * Booklist (starred review) *
“This is an indelible story of Brooklyn and the recurring tug-of-war between residents and new arrivals over the right to call the borough home. It’s a tour de force.” * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *
“Savitch-Lew shows prodigious narrative gifts in this debut novel…A vivid, savory blend of family saga, cultural history, and detective story, rich with urban life and lore.” * Kirkus (starred review) *
“Abigail Savitch-Lew opens up doors to a Brooklyn world that most of us will never see. She reveals the convergence of cultures that is the real New York to life with flair and grace that make this an utterly enjoyable read.” – James McBride, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
“Livonia Chow Mein is a true New York story, a vivid, empathetic portrait of a Brooklyn neighborhood told through four generations of one family. Abigail Savitch-Lew is a generous and gifted storyteller.” – Lisa Ko, author of Memory Piece and The Leavers
“In Livonia Chow Mein, Abigail Savitch-Lew achieves a rare synthesis, producing a vivid, rich and rarely seen narrative about Brooklynites that also is a resonant social and political critique, providing new ways of seeing and understanding our past, present and future. Tackling the most difficult subjects, including race, class, gentrification, history’s many complexities, and so much more, Savitch-Lew’s debut novel is a marvel.” – John Keene, National Book Award winning author of Punks

Abigail Savitch-Lew is a writer of fiction and nonfiction and an American of Jewish and Chinese (Ashkenazi and Toisanese) descent. She has a BA in literary arts from Brown University and an MFA in fiction from Rutgers University-Newark.

She is the author of the novel Livonia Chow Mein, and her short stories have been published in The Round, Post Road, The Best Teen Writing of 2010, and The Apprentice Writer. Previously, she was a staff reporter for City Limits, an Asian American Writers’ Workshop Margins Fellow, and an adjunct professor of creative writing at Rutgers.

She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the artist Emmanuel Knight, her sister-in-law, and their cat.

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