The award-winning author of Thank You, Mr. Nixon and The Resisters delivers "[a] triumph of a novel.... Jen reflects America, at its best, its worst, its most vulnerable" (The Miami Herald), and asks deep questions about religion, love, home, and meaning.

Hattie Kong, a retired teacher and a descendant of Confucius, has decided that it's time to start over. She moves to the peaceful New England town of Riverlake, a place that once represented the rock-solid base of American life. Instead of quietude, Hattie discovers a town challenged by cell-phone towers, chain stores, and struggling farms. Soon Hattie is joined by an immigrant Cambodian family on the run, and--quite unexpectedly--Carter Hatch, a love from her past.

Author: Gish Jen
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 10/04/2011
Series: Vintage Contemporaries
Pages: 480
Weight: 0.8lbs
Size: 8.08h x 5.29w x 1.06d
ISBN: 9780307473301


Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 11/06/2011 pg. 28

About the Author
GISH JEN is the author of three previous novels and a book of stories. Her honors include the Lannan Literary Award for fiction and the Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives with her husband and two children in Cambridge, Massachusetts.