Melody Chu, Author and Attorney: Most Interesting People 2026

Why She’s Interesting: After spending 17 years as a finance attorney for an international firm, Melody Chu took a leap. “My husband asked, ‘What would you want to do, if you could do anything?’ and my immediate answer was to try to write novels, just to see if I could do it.” Her debut novel, Mathey Girls, came out in May and was selected as the featured book for Cleveland Public Library’s One World Day celebration. 

Art Imitating Life: Mathey Girls is fiction, but it melds two aspects of Chu’s identity: her Chinese American heritage and her Princeton education. As the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, she grew up on Cleveland’s West Side but felt disconnected from Chinese culture and community. After spending a summer abroad in Beijing, she lived there for five years and then lived in Hong Kong for five years. 

Transformative Trauma: When Chu gave birth to her third child in 2018, she experienced an amniotic fluid embolism — a medical emergency that landed them in the intensive care unit. “The doctors kept telling me, ‘You’re so lucky you’re alive. It’s a miracle.’” They both recovered, but it was a life-changing experience. 

Conversation Starter: Chu has discovered that she loves participating in book club chats — even with attendees who are critical of her book. “I’m not offended.” 

Fave Read: Chu often rereads Somerset Maugham’s 1915 novel Of Human Bondage. “It’s the best book about sadness, exploring your artistic impulses and growing up.”  

Gamer Girl: Between parenting three kids, penning another book and working part-time as an attorney, Chu doesn’t have much free time. But she and her husband do like to play co-op-style video games where they work together. “I’m not usually competitive, but we get so locked in.” 

Meet the rest of the 2026 class of Most Interesting People >>

For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.

Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.