If you purchase using my link, you pay no more than going there directly, and the small commission will help defray the cost of this blog.Ĭeleste Ng grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Shaker Heights, Ohio. I was impressed not only as a reader but also as a writer interested in the writing techniques of other writers.Ĭlick the images below for more information and to purchase on Amazon. Ng is a remarkable writer, especially adept at portraying emotions the reader feels deeply. “It is a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection,” said Reese Witherspoon, and I would agree. Elena’s obsessive investigation into Mia’s past has dire consequences, and the unraveling of everyone’s secrets is both painful and cleansing. When a custody battle erupts in the neighborhood over a Chinese-American baby, abandoned by a desperate mother but then reclaimed just when a prominent Shaker Heights family wants to adopt her, Elena Richardson and Mia Warren find themselves on different sides of the issue. Ironically, Elena’s four children are drawn to the love and unconditional acceptance they find in Pearl’s mother, Mia.
No one knows this better than Elena’s four teenage children, who each cope with the pressure to conform in their own way.Įlena rents a house to Mia Warren, a somewhat vagabond artist and single mother with a mysterious past, whose teenage daughter Pearl finds the stability she’s always wanted in the Richardson’s home. Rule-follower Elena Richardson and her “perfect” family live in the “perfect” town of Shaker Heights, a planned community where it’s very tough if you don’t fit in. This is why I find so much value in reading-I can learn and think about and apply these important lessons through the experiences of the characters without having to learn them the hard way in my own life.
The author used an unusual and effective combination of flashback with an occasional flash-forward: “He would remember this, years later, when…” Other themes shared by both books were the power of needing to belong, the unfair judgments we make of those who look and act differently from us, and the corrosive effect of long-held secrets. Like the first book, this story plumbs the depths of human emotion in the face of adversity - especially teenage angst - and explores the consequences of our choices, good and bad. Some reviewers felt it was not as good as her first, but I found it even better. I was so impressed with this author’s book Everything I Never Told You and was anxious to read this one too.
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