As we approach the end of 2022, I looked back at what I had read this year and debated which books had the potential to be my book of the year. I considered “The Sunbearer Trials” by Aiden Thomas, “The First to Die at the End” by Adam Silvera, “Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers and countless others.
However, as I debated each book’s merit and the impacts that it left, one novel continuously rose to the top. Celeste Ng’s newest novel, “Our Missing Hearts,” reacquaints us with her powerful and stunning prose, and will continue to impact you long after you have finished.
A New York Times bestseller and NPR book of the year recommendation, “Our Missing Hearts” depicts a dystopian America that has succumbed to fear and intolerance. Reminiscent of “1984” and “Fahrenheit 451,” Ng sets out to unravel the rampant nationalism, racism and book banning that we are witnessing throughout America.
The novel begins after a severe economic depression, known as “The Crisis,” and America saw itself in shambles. With unemployment at a record high, daily riots occurring throughout the nation and entire neighborhoods foreclosed on, America found itself in an anarchic state.
From the rubble, Americans banded together against a common enemy, blaming China for its economic collapse and rallying to fix what had been broken. The government then passed the “Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act” or PACT.
This new law required all citizens to report any treasonous behavior to authorities and America was able to rebuild out of the ashes of the Crisis. The law also dictated that children could be removed from “Un-American households,” books that contained any dangerous or treasonous ideas were burned, and Asian-Americans were socially marked as dangerous to American ideals.
Told from the perspective of 12-year-old Noah “Bird” Gardner, the novel follows him as he tries to find his missing mother, while also reckoning with the implications of being an Asian-American within this new America.
Bird is on the cusp of being taken from his father, his mother’s poetry has been entirely purged from the world, and the only clue he has is a cryptic letter from his mother that he found.
Ng’s novel sets out to explore an America that could potentially arise if we aren’t aware. She seeks to unravel the nature of nationalistic and racist ideologies within our nation. Her work then has us confront the role of books and knowledge-seeking in preventing these ideas from coming to fruition.
“Our Missing Hearts” delivers not only a warning for the future but an urgent call to action. This is an absolute must-read!
