by Steph Cha
First published 2020
Grace Park watches her family fracture as her older sister cuts ties with their Korean immigrant parents. She cannot understand what drove this wedge through her household or why her parents refuse to explain. Across Los Angeles, Shawn Matthews works to support his cousin Ray, who struggles to rebuild his life after serving years in prison. The two families inhabit the same city but move in separate worlds until their histories intersect in unexpected ways. As tensions mount throughout Los Angeles and violence threatens to explode across neighborhoods, Grace and Shawn discover that their families share a buried connection. The revelation forces both to confront how the past shapes the present. Grace must choose between family loyalty and moral clarity while Shawn faces the weight of inherited trauma. Their collision becomes inevitable as the city teeters on the edge of chaos reminiscent of the early 1990s riots.
Genres: fiction, crime, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, secrets, social-commentary
Setting: Los Angeles
Period: 1990s
304 pages · Paperback · Faber & Faber
Content warnings: racism, violence