Monkey Hunting is a 2003 novel by Cristina García.
The novel follows four generations of one family: Chen Pan, who leaves China in 1857 on the promise of success in Cuba only to find himself enslaved as an indentured worker; his Chinese granddaughter, Chen Fang, who is raised as a boy so that she can be educated (unbeknownst to her father, who has returned to Cuba as a doctor); and Chen Pan's great-grand-grandson Domingo, who moves with his father to the United States, where he enlists to fight in Vietnam.
Chen Pan: Chinese man who is tricked into indentured servitude in Cuba; after freeing himself, he becomes a successful businessman and learns to enjoy life in his new countryLucrecia: a young mulatto slave girl, rescued by nuns and purchased by Chen Pan; she eventually becomes his lover and they have children together; she brings together Spanish and African religious practices, and eventually adds Buddhism to the mix; last in life, she considers herself ChineseLorenzo Chen: Chen Pan and Lucrecia's son; a successful doctor, he is the only child to express interest in China; on a visit there, he takes a wife and has daughters by her, the youngest of which (Chen Fang) is born after he returns to Cuba; he also takes a Cuban wife and through her becomes the grandfather of DomingoChen Fang: Lorenzo's youngest daughter by his Chinese wife; because Lorenzo never sees her, her mother tells him that she is a boy so that she might be educated; as an adult, she is successful as a teacher of foreign children until Mao's regime stops Western education and she is imprisoned; her gender identity is a source of confusion to her, both because she is raised as a boy and because her Afro-Cuban lineage makes her taller than Chinese girls; she has a happy affair with Dauphine, but never recovers after Dauphine has to leave the countryDauphinePipo ChenDomingo ChenTham Thanh Lan2003, USA, Knopf ISBN 978-0-375-41056-7, Pub date 15 April 2003, hardback and paperback
