October 1, 2022

Can We Actually Make a Difference?

Celeste Ng shares how current events shaped her process as she dealt with her own uncertainties about the future

Can We Actually Make a Difference?

Celeste Ng shares how current events shaped her process as she dealt with her own uncertainties about the future

In mid-2016, after I finished drafting Little Fires Everywhere, I started what I thought was a fairly traditional novel about a mother and her adolescent son. But as I wrote, the world began to shake along long-ignored fault lines, and the last few years have felt particularly cataclysmic. The story shifted as I wrestled with questions raised by the reckonings taking place—or being avoided. Can we actually make a difference? How can we teach our children to make the world better when we ourselves have failed to do so?

What emerged is Our Missing Hearts. It’s the story of Bird, a boy in search of his beloved mother, and of Margaret, struggling to make the world better for Bird despite the costs to herself. And it’s also an exploration of themes that matter deeply to me: the challenges of finding one’s place within and between cultures, the fragmented legacies passed from parents to children, and the power (and limitations) of art to create change. Above all, it’s a story about people pushing back on the wrong we see in the world, and keeping a sense of shared humanity alive in dark, cynical, and isolating times.

I hope it resonates with you, and I’m very grateful for your read.

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Reese’s Book Club and @IKEAUSA have teamed up to extend the tale of one of our picks, How To End A Love Story by @yulin.kuang. The new chapter will be the perfect bedtime story, and we can’t wait for you to hear it.

Visit our link in bio to shop Yulin’s favorite sleep essentials and check back soon for her extended story. We might just have another one coming…
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Check the link in our bio to start reading Isola.
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Thanks to @IKEAUSA we’ll be revisiting some of our favorite books, like Twelfth Knight by @afarolfollmuth, and sharing a brand-new bonus chapter coming soon! Visit our link in bio to shop her favorite IKEA sleep essentials.
“It’s not just that he’s a villain, but that he represents a man of his time.” Author @allegragoodmanwriter shares what makes Roberval such a terrifying antagonist in Isola.
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