Our Missing Hearts - Celeste Ng

Our Missing Hearts - Celeste Ng

Penguin Press 2022

I first read a book by Celeste Ng a few years ago- 'Little Fires Everywhere'- when it was shortlisted for the Goodreads Fiction awards. I was quite impressed by Celeste's writing- mainly because the story captured me completely and I finished the book in record time.

Therefore, when I saw Celeste Ng's new book 'Our Missing Hearts' at the staff book club collection just before the start of the summer school holidays, I grabbed it even without reading the blurb. I was not to be disappointed -as again, I finished this book too, in record time.

Celeste Ng uses rich language in her writing. She sweeps up the reader in the stories instantly and holds them captive till the end. The intricate descriptions and recounts in her books provide the reader with vivid images of the storyline.

"As he looks around, memories hover close before alighting on his shoulders like dragonflies. They'd had flowers here before: lavender, and honeysuckle, and huge purple puffballs, his father's favorites. White roses the size of his fists that fat golden bees wriggled into. Vines with purple star shaped blooms. Here and there had been vegetables, curling squash with hairy leaves and sprawling tomatoes."

page 100

'Our Missing Hearts' is a story based on a fictional situation where a country takes drastic measures to promote patriotism and stop foreign influences. The situation that Ng conjures up is so vivid that the reader feels some kind of deja-vu, some familiarity with the described fictional policies that are set in place. As we all have seen and experienced situations of extreme religious and racial patriotism and discriminations in different contexts within our lives, those in the book seem to be just a step beyond all that.

The story revolves around a boy, Noah or 'Bird' which is his preferred name. He is caught up in the aftermath of the 'Crisis' that swept the country and caused disruption that tore his family and many other families apart. This is a story of children snatched from families and of the heartbreak of losing loved ones. This is a story of resilience in the face of adversity and the power of small acts that amount to a massive force in the end.

Being a librarian myself, I can't help loving the role that libraries and librarians play in the story. The fact that 'Our Missing Hearts' recognises the role of libraries as places where the value of information is utmost, resonates with me personally.

"All over the country, a scattered network of librarians would note this information, collating it with the Rolodex of their minds, cross referencing it with the re-placed children they have known about. Some kept a running list, but most, wary, simply trusted it to memory. An imperfect system, but the brain of a librarian was a capacious place."

page 236

The same sense of foreboding that Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' evokes can be felt when reading 'Our Missing Hearts'. The sense that what is described in the book is not entirely fiction, that it has happened/ is happening/ will soon happen somewhere is quite unsettling. Kudos to Celeste Ng for her bravery in selecting such a controversial topic to base a novel and presenting the story to us in such a way that takes our breath away.

'Our Missing Hearts' by Celeste Ng, a worthy read indeed.

-Helmalie Gunathilaka-