The Joy Luck Club
Amy Tan
Like Lee's novel, it follows immigrant mothers and their American-raised daughters across generations, showing how love, pride and misunderstanding shape each family's choices.
11 books to read next
Books Like Free Food for Millionaires
If you loved Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee
Readers who love Free Food for Millionaires usually respond to Casey Han's sharp, clear-eyed view of ambition and money in Manhattan, and to the close portrait of a Korean-American family caught between old customs and new expectations. The novel moves at a steady, absorbing pace, with humour and real sympathy for characters who want more than they can easily afford. If you are drawn to immigrant stories that treat class and family loyalty seriously, these picks follow similar ground.
Immigrant families and generational strain
Brooklyn
Colm Tóibín
A young Irish woman's move to New York, her homesickness and her difficult choices between two worlds echo Casey's struggle to build a life in a city that demands a lot.
Money, glamour and class
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Its outsider narrator, glittering wealth and sharp view of who gets invited in will appeal to readers drawn to Casey's longing for the Manhattan elite.
Crazy Rich Asians
Kevin Kwan
A witty, socially sharp novel about Asian characters navigating old money, family expectations and status, offering the same mix of satire and warmth that Lee brings to Casey's world.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid
It examines class, money and unspoken rules between employers and the people they hire, with the same sharp eye for everyday privilege found in Free Food for Millionaires.
Identity and belonging
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
Twin sisters take diverging paths around race and identity, and the novel's family-centred drama and pressure to reinvent oneself will suit readers who valued Casey's search for her place.
Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Following a Nigerian woman's move to America and her return home, it explores immigrant ambition, love and class with the same sharp social observation that marks Lee's novel.
Interior Chinatown
Charles Yu
Its inventive, wry look at Asian-American characters chasing a version of success they were told to want speaks to the same questions of identity and aspiration at the heart of Free Food for Millionaires.
Go deeper into the real world
The Woman Warrior
Maxine Hong Kingston
This memoir of growing up as a Chinese-American daughter, shaped by her mother's stories and expectations, offers the same intimate look at immigrant family life that Lee portrays.
The Warmth of Other Suns
Isabel Wilkerson
A vivid nonfiction account of the Great Migration, following people who built new lives in northern cities, it gives historical depth to the immigrant struggles and ambitions that Lee dramatises.
Nickel and Dimed
Barbara Ehrenreich
Ehrenreich's undercover account of trying to live on low wages shows the hard arithmetic of getting by in America, the same gap between cost and aspiration that drives Casey's story.
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