The Year She Left Us

<p><strong>Three generations of Chinese-American women in a San Francisco family must confront their past and carve out a future in this extraordinary novel a haunting debut full of shimmering and unforgettable characters. (<em>New York Times Book Review</em>)</strong></p><p>The Kong women are in crisis. A disastrous trip to visit her home orphanage in China has plunged eighteen-year-old Ari into a self-destructive spiral. Her adoptive mother Charlie a lawyer with a great heart is desperate to keep her daughter safe. Meanwhile Charlie must endure the prickly scrutiny of her beautiful Bryn Mawr educated mother Gran--who as the daughter of a cultured Chinese doctor came to America to survive Mao's Revolution--and her sister Les a brilliant judge with a penchant to rule over everyone's lives.</p><p>As they cope with Ari's journey of discovery and its aftermath the Kong women will come face to face with the truths of their lives--four powerful intertwining stories of accomplishment tenacity secrets loneliness and love. Beautifully illuminating the bonds of family and blood <em>The Year She Left Us</em> explores the promise and pain of adoption the price of assimilation and achievement the debt we owe to others and what we owe ourselves.</p>