Satisfaction Café, The by Kathy Wang; 2025. Hardcover.

Joan Liang’s life is a series of surprising developments: she never thought she would leave Taiwan for California, nor did she expect her first marriage to implode—especially as quickly and spectacularly as it did. She definitely did not expect to fall in love with an older, wealthy American and become his fourth wife and mother to his youngest children. Through all this she wrestles with one persistent question: Will she ever truly feel satisfied?

As Joan and her children grow older and their circumstances evolve, she makes a drastic change: she opens the Satisfaction Café, a place where people can visit for a bit of conversation and to be heard and understood. Through this radical yet pragmatic business, Joan constructs a lasting legacy. The Satisfaction Café is a novel about found family, the joy and loneliness that come with age, and how we can give ourselves permission to seek satisfaction and connection at any stage of life.