Real Americans

When Nick Chen, sensitively portrayed by narrator Eric Yang, meets his grandmother May, her voice brings three generations of Chinese Americans together across difficult episodes of sacrifice, love, and loss. May, voiced with openness and regret by narrator Eunice Wong, had hoped that her daughter Lily would find her life’s purpose independently. For her part, Lily, whose clear-eyed directness is captured by Louisa Zhu, raised Nick alone, wishing he would surpass her wildest dreams. With an uncanny talent in common—being able to make time stop, stretch, then collapse back into itself—May, Lily, and Nick use their gift in ways that are at once a blessing and a curse. Listeners will hear how the Chens overcome past wrongs, setting an example for today’s far-flung Americans to seek connections, reconciliation, and understanding when generational memories start to fade.