OUR MISSING HEARTS
**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
From the number one bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, a deeply suspenseful and heartrending novel about the unbreakable love between a mother and child in a society 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 a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or 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 back to 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 City, 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 pretend to ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power—and limitations—of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.
In bookstores everywhere
Praise for Our Missing Hearts:
“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)
*
“Known for focusing on families, race, and relationships, 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… As with her previous novels, her storytelling will not disappoint.”
— Library Journal ★ (Starred Review)
*
“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. Underscores that the stories we tell about our lives and those of others can change hearts, minds, and history.”
— Kirkus Reviews ★ (Starred Review)
*
“An eerie, prophetic novel… 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
*
“Celeste Ng is undoubtedly at the top of her game… Ng’s prose highlights the fateful and sometimes absurd connections between our world and the realm of ideas, reminding readers that what is in our heads will always reveal itself in our bodies. The result is a novel that will undoubtedly impact how we connect and live in this terrifying, beautiful world.”
— BookPage ★ (Starred Review)
*
“Firmly written and well-executed… 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. … Bird is a brave and believable character, who gives us a relatable portal into a world that seems more like our own every day.”
— Stephen King, The New York Times Book Review
*
“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
*
“Heart-wrenching and brilliant... hold[s] a mirror up to the present and remind us of the importance of remembering our past... This is the book I will pass down to my children when they ask me what it was like to live through this time in history.”
— Boston Globe
*
“Celeste Ng’s clenched fist of a novel Our Missing Hearts (Penguin Press) tells the story of Bird, a 12-year-old boy gasping for hope and love in an America that runs on scapegoating and fear-mongering. ... Ng has crafted an unwaveringly dark fairy tale for a world that has stopped making sense.”
— Vogue
*
“[Ng's] most powerful work to date.”
— People
*
“Set about five minutes into the future, the latest novel from celebrated author Celeste Ng (Little Fires Everywhere) considers the sinister trajectory of dark-side American decay. ... Ng delivers a cautionary tale for those who think: It can’t happen here.”
— GOODREADS
*
“Celeste Ng is very good at writing social commentary that’s too full of heart and humanity to feel preachy. ... As Ng shifts perspectives and fills in the details of how America became the version of itself her book describes, things get scarily real."
— Vulture
*
“With a chilling premise and frequently stunning prose, this dystopian drama is a jolt to the system and a booster of hope.”
— Oprah Daily
*
“A compelling and brutal telling of a too-real dystopia…. A thought-provoking book that will stay with you long after the last page.”
— Country Living
*
“Celeste Ng has made a name for herself as a bestselling author and with books like this one, it’s no surprise. Timely and stunning, this novel about the bond between a mother and child in a society living in fear, will absolutely embed itself in your heart.”