The Fourth Daughter

by Lyn Liao Butler

ARC Review

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pub Date: August 1, 2025
Format: ARC (Post-publication)

The number four is unlucky in Taiwan. It sounds like the word for death. For Ah-Ma, Liv Kuo’s grandmother, being the mother of four daughters brought more than superstition. When her youngest was still an infant, Ah-Ma’s husband, a member of the KMT, gave the child away without telling her. She’s been searching for her ever since.

Decades later, Liv is a chef on the rise in Manhattan until a violent incident leaves her unable to leave her apartment. When Ah-Ma calls from Taiwan asking for help, Liv boards a plane into a family history she didn’t know existed, stepping straight into a search that has stretched over sixty years.

I didn’t know this part of Taiwan’s history, not just martial law under the KMT, but the way family power and politics could erase a mother’s choice. Butler doesn’t hand you these facts as history lessons. They’re in the conversations between characters, in the silences, and in the food. Dishes aren’t decoration here. They carry memory, show love, and root the story in a culture that’s still very much alive.

The historical weight could have been crushing, but the writing makes it accessible without softening the truth. It’s not the raw psychological intensity of a Han Kang novel, but it still leaves you carrying what happened. Liv’s mental health journey and her romance are lighter threads, but they make the story approachable for more readers. There is violence here, domestic and otherwise, but always in service of the story.

Would I recommend it?

Yes. For readers of Asian American literature, for anyone who likes to learn history through fiction, and for those who gravitate toward stories where food is as much a character as the people.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC and the chance to read this after release.

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Kitchen & Reading Pairings for The Fourth Daughter

• High-Mountain Oolong Sampler — sip while you read
• Small Bamboo Steamer — dumpling night after the last chapter
• Porcelain Soup Bowls — for congee, noodle soup, or miantang

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