First published 2017
Neva arrives from the Caucasus, trapped in human trafficking networks that span continents. Poppy grows up as the adopted daughter of the powerful Zane real estate empire in New York. When their lives intersect, both women find themselves pulled into a world that stretches from Manhattan penthouses to the criminal underworld of Istanbul and Laos. Poppy watches her family's wealth and status crumble as the Zanes lose their grip on power. Neva fights to survive in a system designed to destroy her. Their stories weave together across lavish wedding celebrations and brutal exploitation, from London boardrooms to Southeast Asian trafficking routes. As globalization connects their fates, both women must confront how personal trauma and political forces shape their choices. The novel follows their journeys through a landscape where privilege and vulnerability exist side by side, revealing how individual lives become entangled in larger systems of power and violence.
Genres: fiction, abuse, crime, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, intersecting-lives
Setting: Caucasus, Istanbul, Laos, London, Manhattan, New York, Southeast Asia
Period: 21st-century
304 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Content warnings: abuse, trafficking, violence