The Satisfaction Café - by Kathy Wang (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

An engrossing and original story about a woman who moves from Taiwan to California and builds an unexpected life there, for readers of Olive Kitteridge and Hello Beautiful.

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.

Vivid, comic, and intensely moving, 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.

Review Quotes

"The Satisfaction Café is both deep and wide, tracing the arc of a single life and then showing how that life ripples out across family, friends, and time. At every turn Joan proves to be more insightful and more necessary than people believed her to be, the result of which is this insightful, necessary, and beautiful novel." --Ann Patchett

"Kathy Wang is a born storyteller, vivid and precise, deliciously cool-eyed, immensely readable." --Jonathan Franzen

"The Satisfaction Café is big-hearted without being sentimental, profound without pretense, and witty without sacrificing sincerity--qualities that reflect its unforgettable protagonist, Joan. This is the kind of story that makes you want to write a thank you note to the author, call up an old friend, and gaze at strangers with greater compassion and curiosity. Kathy Wang bestows us with virtuoso prose, gentle wisdom, and a main character who stands among the best I've ever read. I fell in love with and savored this beautiful novel." --Emily Habeck, author of Shark Heart

"Kathy Wang's outstanding novel is one of the best I've read in quite some time.
The protagonist is tough, opinionated, vulnerable, and wise, and it is a privilege to witness the arc of her life. I would have stayed with her for another three hundred pages." --Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes

"This irresistible read traverses decades of a woman's life. The twists are as unexpected yet realistic as the ones you'd hear from a neighbor or a friend. But the writing is uniquely endearing and funny, leaping off the page. You will be moved by this tale of resilience and taking delight in life despite hardships." --Today.com's Most Anticipated Books of 2025

"Subtle, surprising, and elegantly constructed, The Satisfaction Café is an insightful and funny exploration of how seldom our choices feel like choices; how rare and elusive the idea of home can feel." --Lynn Steger Strong, author of Flight

"Kathy Wang creates remarkably nuanced and affecting characters with such ease and economy. I found myself utterly captivated by The Satisfaction Café, immediately pulled into the beautifully told sweep of a whole life.
A marvelous book." --Phil Klay, author of Redeployment

"An intimate portrait of a life unlike any I have read before. I loved this novel and its heroine so much. Kathy Wang writes with humor, wisdom and compassion. A must-read." --J. Courtney Sullivan, author of The Cliffs

"Reading Kathy Wang is like talking to your best friend. The Satisfaction Café evokes the narrative power of classic Anne Tyler, tracing the journey of a Chinese-American woman with Wang's signature humor, warmth and wisdom. I want to share this novel with everyone." --Janice Y. K. Lee, author of The Piano Teacher

"The Satisfaction Café is a beautiful, intimate novel that takes the reader, again and again, to unexpected places. Kathy Wang's characters are so real and flawed and human you expect them to spring from the page. What a breath of fresh air-- a novel with nothing to prove and so much to give. I didn't want it to end." --Lydia Kiesling, author of Golden State

About the Author

Kathy Wang is the author of Family Trust, Imposter Syndrome, and The Satisfaction Café. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Business School, and lives in the Bay Area.