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'Absorbing' GUARDIAN

'Magical' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'Suspenseful' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'Wildly inventive' LIZ MOORE

JUNE 2025 REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK

In this dazzling debut novel, a young reclusive coder unearths the story of a lost Shanghai pencil company and a legacy of magic, espionage and family secrets that will alter the path of her life forever.

Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-confessed recluse, she finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and she worries about them - especially her grandmother Yun whose memory has begun to fade.

Monica has become intent on tracking down her grandmother Yun's long-lost cousin, Meng, before it's too late. In her search, Monica connects with a young woman archivist who presents her with a single pencil that holds a clue to a hidden family history. Through this discovery Monica comes to learn of her grandmother's years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company.

As WWII raged outside their door, Yun and Meng came into a power unique to the women in their family: the ability to reclaim stories from the pencils they were written with. But when government officials uncovered their secret ability, they were both forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people's stories to survive. These shocking revelations set Monica on a path that will change all their lives in ways she can scarcely imagine.

At once a sweeping family epic and a powerful love story with deep emotional resonance, Allison King's brilliantly inventive debut novel pushes us to question how well we really know our own stories and the many beguiling ways they can connect our lives.

'Nods to Gabriel García Márquez ... an intimate story of familial love and connection throughout the generations' INDEPENDENT

'A suspenseful family epic fueled by love and espionage' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'A reminder of how family ties shape us' WOMAN & HOME

'Allison King is a talent to watch' LIZ MOORE

'A beautiful ode to the warmth of family connection' RAY NAYLER

'A stunning debut ... had me smiling through my tears' FONDA LEE

'An impressive juggling act of voices that made me feel like I was in on a secret ... a rare novel' SEQUOIA NAGAMATSU