Nevertheless, They Persisted

Celeste Ng’s latest is a galvanic and urgent novel of social and familial upheaval.

- CAROLE V. BELL

Can storm clouds have silver linings? Celeste Ng's politically charged Our Missing Hearts is a dark landscape on which anti-Asian hate, book bannings, family separation, and other forms of oppression rage. But the tale is also 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.

With two stellar prior novels, numerous short stories, and a Guggenheim Fellowship to her credit, Ng has quickly become a leading chronicler of modern American angst, race, and class. Her 2014 debut, Everything I Never Told You, topped best-books lists, and her second novel, the number one bestseller Little Fires Everywhere, made an even bigger cultural splash: It was turned into a muchtalked about Hulu series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.