For fans of The Vanishing Half and Little Fires Everywhere, a sweeping and heartfelt debut about finding your roots across borders and beyond blood-ties
'A magical read ... that will break your heart then put it back together again' Stylist Book of the Month
'I am bereft to have finished it! From the suburbs of Philadelphia to the streets of Saigon, I was completely immersed in the lives of these very special characters. I loved it.' EMILY ITAMI, author of Fault Lines
'A beautifully told story of family, identity, loss and belonging' JENNIE GODFREY, No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things
'Poignant and powerful, this is a novel that lingers long after the final page' JEAN KWOK, author of Girl in Translation
'Beautifully written and accomplished' NUSSAIBAH YOUNIS, author of Fundamentally
'Authentic and full of life' JESSICA STANLEY, author of Consider Yourself Kissed
May 1998: Mimi Traung and her baby daughter Ngan wait restlessly at the gates of Philadelphia airport. There is still a day's travelling left before they would land back home on Vietnamese soil. While they prepare to board, the unimaginable happens.
Seventeen years later, two best friends are discussing their summer plans before college over a piece of mooncake. Both have trips ahead in search of their roots: Sabrina is preparing to travel to China to meet her mother's family. Kit leaves for Tokyo, convinced that her biological mother is Japanese. Their parents watch on from the quiet suburbs of Chestnut Hill, nervous of what their daughters might find.
Meanwhile, Mimi returns to Philadelphia in search of her lost child, tracing memories from that fateful day waiting at the gates. Each of these women are looking to find their place in the world. Eventually Mimi, Kit and Sabrina come face to face, and have to confront the people they truly are, dismantling their own assumptions about belonging and the importance of blood ties.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
'An unflinching exploration of Asian-American identity, discrimination, adoption, and classism.'
'An emotional whirlwind ... A magnificent coming-of-age novel'
'At times heartbreaking and other times joyfully life-affirming ... This is a novel that spans decades and continents, yet remains deeply intimate and moving'
'The type of book you can't put down'
'A rights of passage tale with a twist'