Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee; a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue – in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the centre of every party. But Lydia is under pressures that have nothing to do with growing up in 1970s small town Ohio. Her father is an American born of first-generation Chinese immigrants, and his ethnicity, and hers, make them conspicuous in any setting.

When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, James is consumed by guilt and sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to make someone accountable, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is convinced that local bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest in the family – Hannah – who observes far more than anyone realises and who may be the only one who knows what really happened.

Everything I Never Told You is a gripping page-turner, about secrets, love, longing, lies and race.

This is only the second book of Ng’s that I have read, and while I wasn’t as enthralled by it as I was by “Little Fires Everywhere,” I still found it very thought-provoking. It’s a quiet but powerful novel that explores family dynamics, racial identity, and gender expectations in the American suburbs at a time when the country was changing.

Set in the 1970s, the novel follows the Lees, a mixed-race Chinese American family living in a small Ohio town. The story begins with a tragedy: their beloved daughter, Lydia, is found dead in a nearby lake. What follows is a deep dive into the tangled web of expectations, disappointments, and misunderstandings that have shaped the lives of the Lee family and the events leading up to Lydia’s death.

I love a dual timeline, and Ng masterfully shifts between past and present, giving us insight into how Marilyn and James’s marriage began, how their children were raised, and how resentment and misunderstanding built up between them over time. It also provides insight into what may have led to and eventually caused Lydia’s death.

Though she is dead when the book begins, the book’s central figure is teenager, Lydia Lee. When she was alive, Lydia was caught between two worlds. She inherited her mother’s blue eyes, allowing her to pass as white more easily than her siblings, which caused her father to pressure her to fit in. James had always dreamed of being popular with a lot of friends, and he sees that Lydia may have this opportunity since she can easily pass as white. She is supposed to be popular, well-liked, and socially successful – things her father always wished for himself. Lydia is also pressured by her mother, Marilyn, to excel academically. As a young woman, Marilyn had wanted to become a doctor, but her ambitions were sidelined by marriage and motherhood. She transfers those aspirations onto Lydia, pushing her toward a future in medicine despite Lydia’s lack of interest.

This dual burden becomes too much for Lydia. She struggles silently because her parents fail to see how deeply unhappy she is. This aspect of the novel was particularly heartbreaking because it highlights how well-meaning parents can unintentionally harm their children by imposing their own unfulfilled dreams onto them.

Nath and Hannah – Lydia’s siblings – are quiet observers in all of this. Both of them are deeply affected by their sister’s death but also don’t know how to share their thoughts on the matter because they’ve always been somewhat overshadowed by Lydia. Nath believes Lydia’s involvement with a local bad boy may have led to her death, while Hannah, the youngest and quietest of them all, may know more about what really happened than anyone.

While this isn’t a thriller in the traditional sense, it almost reads like one. Ng constructs the narrative in a way that keeps you turning pages, slowly revealing the layers of the Lee family’s history. The novel is less about Lydia’s death and more about the forces that led to it. It is a meditation on identity, belonging, and the devastating impact of unmet expectations. Discovering what led to Lydia’s death wasn’t the most exciting part of the book for me. Instead, I enjoyed piecing together every misstep and every broken dream of Marilyn and James that built and eventually destroyed their family.

If you enjoy books that explore complex family dynamics and social issues with emotional depth, this book is well worth reading. It is a heartbreaking but beautifully written novel that serves as a powerful reminder of how important it is to truly see and hear the people we love. It’s a book that grows on you the more you think about it.

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