In her latest novel, UNDER THE GHOST MOON, Lyn Liao Butler shares her cultural heritage with readers as we meet Joey Zhang, the daughter of two Taiwanese physicians. It is through Joey's narrative that we learn about Taiwan's oft-violent history and the sacrifices that many made to ensure a democratic government.

Joey is stunned when she receives the news that her brother, Sam, has died. Her shock turns to anger and frustration when she realizes that Sam kept the fact that he was dying hidden from her. He was her only family as their parents died when she was a child. Sam raised her as he went to medical school, and they were very close. She had visited him in Hawaii a few months before his death and noticed that he had lost weight. But he brushed it off, and she didn't think twice about it.

"Butler excels at juggling multiple timelines, and this novel is a perfect example of her ability to seamlessly alternate points of view and time periods."

Now Sam posthumously informs her through a series of videos he made for her that he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. He didn't want prolonged treatment that wouldn't cure him and would just make the suffering last longer. He wished to go out on his own terms. But he also confesses that there is information about their parents and how they died, as well as their nanny, that he has kept from her. This rocks Joey to her core and causes her to rethink her childhood and memories of her loved ones. 

Butler delves into Taiwan's history, and we learn about the “228 Massacre.” It's called that because it happened on February 28, 1947, and tens of thousands of civilians were brutally killed after government agents (KMT) struck a widow selling cigarettes and shot a man defending her. That was just the start of decades of martial law during which many of the intellectual elite in Taiwan disappeared into prisons and burial plots. We feel the trauma of missing family members and the pervasive fear of those who fought against the brutal military rule.

The history is an important part of the story, but central to the plot is Joey and her search for the truth. She wants to know why her family was fractured, why her parents died, and why her brother sent their nanny away. She would like to explore her feelings for Sam's best friend from childhood, Ethan, but at the same time she is disheartened by her family's horrible luck with love. She wonders if there is such a thing as true love because she realizes that it's certainly not what her parents had.

Butler excels at juggling multiple timelines, and this novel is a perfect example of her ability to seamlessly alternate points of view and time periods. There is Joey's narration in the present and that of her brother's from shortly before his death. Then there is Joey's mother's diary, where she shares her heartbreak at what has become of her once-idyllic marriage and the cunning manner in which she decides to resolve the problem.

It's when Joey travels to Taiwan to try to connect with relatives that some hard truths about family appear. Not all family members can forgive or want to be close, yet surprisingly some are the opposite. In addition to what makes us family is the idea of forgiveness. Joey comes to understand that someone who irrevocably harmed her parents' marriage may not have been the one at fault. And even though her father was a very flawed human being, he had some qualities that she could appreciate.

UNDER THE GHOST MOON is neither a mystery nor a love story. Rather, it's the journey of a woman to find her family and understand their history because then she will be able to understand herself. There's heartbreak, betrayal and unimaginable cruelty. But by the end, there's love and family that wants to be there for each other, all shared in Butler's beautifully poignant prose.