Rachel Khong’s “Real Americans” is such a deeply satisfying and emotionally engaging novel, and easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. Her 2017 debut “Goodbye, Vitamin” was impressive, but Khong’s second novel is on a whole other level of craft and ambition.

“Real Americans” is an intergenerational narrative, spanning from 1960s China to near-future 2030 San Francisco(but delineated non-chronologically), which explores a fundamental question intrinsic to our selves: how and why do we become who we are? Khong interrogates this through three generations of a Chinese American family, all of whom have been impacted by race and class, choice and chance—and genetic engineering.

The architecture of Khong’s story is grand, but it’s the superbly rendered smaller moments, which capture the singularness and universality of their individual lives, that make “Real Americans” a truly formidable addition to the lineage of great literary family sagas. Each of their separate stories could easily be expanded into novels, but Khong’s gift is her ability to distil their lives into key moments and scenes, and feel fully textured. It’s masterful stuff.