Our Missing Hearts: Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching Reese Witherspoon, a Reeses Book Club Pick

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THE REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK

THE PANDORA BOOK CLUB PICK

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A hottest book for THE TIMES, DAILY MAIL, THE INDEPENDENT, VOGUE, STYLIST, TIME MAGAZINE, EVENING STANDARD, THE I and THE IRISH MAIL ON SUNDAY.

'It's impossible not to be moved' Stephen King, New York Times

'Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching...I was so invested in the future of this mother and son, and I can't wait to hear what you think of this deeply suspenseful story!' Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club October '22 Pick)

From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes one of the most anticipated books of the year - the inspiring new novel about a mother's unbreakable love in a world consumed by fear.

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in Harvard's library. He knows not to ask too many questions, stand out too much, stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve 'American culture' in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic - including the work of Bird's mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.

Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn't know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn't wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is drawn into a quest to find her. His journey will take him through the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can turn a blind eye to the most searing injustice. It's a story about the power - and limitations - of art to create change in the world, the lessons and legacies we pass onto our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.

Reviews

Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching...I was so invested in the future of this mother and son, and I can't wait to hear what you think of this deeply suspenseful story! * Reese Witherspoon (Reeses Book Club October 22 Pick) *
On another level, Our Missing Hearts is a meditation on the sometimes accidental power of words... I won't give away the splendid conclusion of Ng's book; suffice it to say the climax deals with the power of words, the power of stories and the persistence of memory. It's impossible not to be moved by Margaret Miu's courage, or to applaud her craftiness * Stephen King, New York Times *
[A] feat of meaty storytelling...Ng effortlessly combines a character-led family story with a detective tale, a tribute to books and storytelling and a confrontation with history...a story that is exceptionally powerful and scaldingly relevant * Observer *
A stunning story of injustice and resistance...Lyrical, intricate, unsparing: this novel will break your heart and fire up your courage * Mail on Sunday *
Remarkable and deeply moving... as moving as it is gripping. [Ng] is an astute writer...her writing feels gorgeously supple * The i *
One of the biggest books of the year...deeply moving * Stylist *
A lyrical and touching testimony to maternal love, it's also a salutary reminder of how easily freedoms can be lost and of the power of words to change lives * Daily Mail *
Beautifully stirring and heart-wrenching, this powerful novel from the author of Little Fires Everywhere is a homage to love and will tug at your heartstrings * Heat, Book of the Month *
Powerful and brilliant * Vogue *
Ng's compelling writing paints a picture of a world so real you can almost touch it. Despite the darkness of the story, the love of a family stands out. * Independent *
Thought-provoking... My heart broke and was remade several times over by this book * Good Housekeeping *
A beautiful, thoughtful book...Brilliant and moving * Hello magazine *

Ng, whose previous novels subtly probed tensions surrounding race,class, and gender, boldly tackles
anti-Asian racism head-on

* Time magazine, 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 *
Shot through with vivid color and rising hope, an unflinching yet life-affirming drama about the power of art and love to push back in dangerous times...Ng's brilliance lies in leaving the reader with an unshakable belief that against all odds, people will find the courage to resist, revolt, and defend . . . remarkable * Oprah Daily *
[Ng] has really hit her authorial stride in her eagerly anticipated third novel, Our Missing Hearts... It's her masterful weaving huge themes of race, class, privilege and identity with the simplicity of everyday lives that has made her a deserved international phenomenon * Daily Mirror *
A book you won't be able to put down, nor stop thinking about long after you do...Ng's paragraphs are built with sentences so lovely and lyrical you likely will find yourself marking passages in every chapter to share with others * USA Today *
Ng's third novel is eagerly awaited and does not disappoint...Our Missing Hearts deftly weaves together a coming-of-age story with a threatening vision of a heavily censored future * Daily Express *
Little Fires Everywhere became a global phenomenon and now author Celeste Ng is back with another gripping tale * Irish Mail on Sunday *
Tense, poignant and chilling * Grazia *
Riveting, tender, and timely * People, Book of the Week *
Terrific * Telegraph *
Celeste Ng's new novel, Our Missing Hearts, comes out this autumn and you can bet I will be cracking that spine open the second I get my hands on it. Ng is an auto-buy author for me. I can't wait to see what she's going to do next * Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Times *
Working in the tradition of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984, Our Missing Hearts is at its core a parable about the wages of fear, how it can lead to bigotry, racism and institutionalized hatred...The notion of the accidental warrior is one of the many generous and compassionate aspects of Ng's story - the idea that there is something brave in everyone - if only it can be reached * Washington Post *
Ng excels at narrative tension and at mustering readers' fear and outrage...Like George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro and Octavia E. Butler, Ng pays close enough attention to write tomorrow's headlines * San Francisco Chronicle *
The poetic prose captures the poignancy of the story which is both heartbreaking and hopeful * Buzz mag *
Celeste Ng imagines a terrifying dystopian future * Time magazine *
Instantly gripping and heartbreaking * Autumn's Best Blockbuster Reads, Evening Standard *
Heart-wrenching and brilliant * Boston Globe *
So much of this utterly stupendous tale is hauntingly, horrifically, historically, currently all too real...Yet Ng creates an exquisite story of unbreakable family bonds, lifesaving storytelling (and seemingly omniscient librarians!), brilliantly subversive art, and accidentally transformative activism. As lyrical as it is chilling, as astonishing as it is empathic, Our Missing Hearts arguably achieves literary perfection * Booklist, starred review *
Ng crafts an affecting family drama out of the chilling and charged atmosphere, and shines especially when offering testimony to the power of art and storytelling... Like Margaret's story, Ng's latest crackles and sizzles all the way to the end * Publishers Weekly, starred review *
Ng's first two novels - her arresting debut, Everything I Never Told You (2014), and devastating follow-up, Little Fires Everywhere (2017) - provided an insightful, empathetic perspective on America as it is. Her equally sensitive, nuanced, and vividly drawn latest effort, set in a dystopian near future in which Asian Americans are regarded with scorn and mistrust by the government and their neighbors, offers a frightening portrait of what it might become... From the very first page of this thoroughly engrossing and deeply moving novel, Bird's story takes wing. Taut and terrifying, Ng's cautionary tale transports us into an American tomorrow that is all too easy to imagine - and persuasively posits that the antidotes to fear and suspicion are empathy and love * Kirkus starred review *
Ng raises the bar another notch in a story intensified by reference to such police violence, political protest, book banning, and discrimination against people of color. VERDICT Ng's beautiful yet chilling tale will resonate with readers who enjoyed Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Jessamine Chan's more recent School for Good Mothers. As with her previous novels, her storytelling will not disappoint * Library Journal, starred review *
Easily one of the most anticipated novels of the year! * Bookriot *
An eerie, prophetic novel...[that] showcases Ng's own ingenuity and range. Brilliantly envisioned and filled with Ng's signature tender, intimate character work and complex family dynamics, this coming-of-age story asks what it means to be a good parent or a good citizen when every child is at risk, as well as what power art has to challenge injustice * Shelf Awareness *

Author Bio

Celeste Ng is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere. She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and her work has been published in over thirty languages.