Anelise Chen's second book, Clam Down: A Metamorphosis, defies categorization in the most stimulating, hilarious, and heartfelt ways. There's a section narrated by collective of Asian clams. Other sections are narrated by a retired Taiwanese father who's exasperated by his adult daughters and wife. Then there's the 30-something woman writer at the center of the story who calls herself "the clam," a formulation that emerges in the aftermath of a marriage ending: "Hadn't this clamming down method worked well enough in her marriage? Instead of opening her mouth to spew seawater or sand, she swallowed whatever was bothering her and worried it under her tongue until it gleamed." The clam, an avatar for Chen (who, in her author's note, writes that Clam Down "could be" considered memoir), travels to California to borrow her reluctant father's car, then road trips to New Mexico with her mother for a writing residency.
Throughout, Chen shares fascinating information about other people who found inspiration and solace in mollusks, such as Charles Darwin and Georgia O'Keeffe. This is a narrative of journeys: the author's physical journey through time and space, including a stint on the Camino de Santiago (the pilgrimage's symbol is a scallop shell, Chen notes with glee); from fearing solitude to reveling in it; and Chen's emotional journey of trying to understand her father's withdrawal from family life during childhood. Clam Down is a künstlerroman mixed with an interrogation of the author's family's legacy of trauma and immigrant struggle, and even includes a strong dash of romance. --Nina Semczuk, writer, editor, and illustrator