First published 2016
Mercy carries the weight of a devastating mistake from her recent past. The young Korean American woman drifts through Hong Kong after graduating from Columbia, unable to move forward from the incident that changed everything. Hilary fills her days with the routines of an expatriate wife, but beneath the surface she battles infertility and watches her marriage crumble. She clings to the belief that having a child will fix what's broken between her and her husband. Margaret once had it all: a solid marriage and three children who gave her life meaning. Now she faces an unthinkable loss that makes her question everything she thought she knew about being a mother. The three women's paths cross in Hong Kong's expatriate community, where personal struggles play out against the backdrop of privileged displacement. Their individual battles with guilt, grief, and identity create connections that will alter all their lives. Each woman must confront what she's lost and decide what she's willing to sacrifice to heal.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Hong Kong, Columbia
Period: 21st-century
336 pages · Hardcover · Viking
Content warnings: infertility