It is a powerful moment when reading a dystopian novel that you start to recognise elements of our world within it.

Twelve year old ‘Bird’ (real name Noah, although he favours his nickname for himself) lives with his father Ethan, once an academic, now a librarian, in Cambridge in Massachusetts.

A bill has been passed by the nameless President titled: ‘PACT: Preserving American Culture and Traditions’ with the aim of protecting Americans from the ‘threat of those who undermine us from within.’ Ultimately, this bill can remove children from parents who appear to be un-American, and it threatens to destroy the peace while ostensibly protecting people’s lives and freedoms.

Bird’s mother left him and Ethan when Bird was 8 years old. At the beginning of the book, he receives a note from his mother (deemed un-American by ‘PACT’) who gives him the option to find her, thereby going against the regime his father seems to be following.

Birds are meant to fly.  So it is no surprise that he takes up his mother’s challenge and what follows is a truly sensational novel. Engaging, thought provoking, an interesting relation to Ng’s brilliant previous book, Little Fires Everywhere. 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng was published by Little, Brown. My copy was kindly sent to me (on my request) by the publisher to review.