Bird Gardner is the son of an Asian woman, Margaret Miu, and a white father, Ethan. The first part of the novel is an explanation of how Bird’s mother, Margaret, separated from their family. Margaret made an intentional decision to leave Ethan and Bird, rather than face forced separation. The concept of forced separation is at the heart of this story – much like The Handmaid’s Tale, this is a dystopian near-future United States in which actual horrors of our past are enacted upon citizens in the future. Bird is living in a post-PACT world – PACT being a fictional but plausible act passed by the US that rewards “loyal” US citizens and seriously threatens anyone disloyal to the US. The primary targets of PACT are Asian citizens – a concept that, as we can see, is on the rise throughout the US, especially post-COVID. A major part of the legislation involves removing children from the homes of anyone who speaks out against the US government. Margaret’s poem, which shares a title with the book, became a sort of rallying cry for those protesting the enforcement of PACT – thus, Margaret leaves her husband and son before the government can force Bird’s separation from BOTH of his parents.
Eventually, Bird seeks out (and finds) his mother, and he learns more about the circumstances that gave rise to PACT. Eventually, their family must make a choice about how they want to exist in a world that offers limited choices.
The concept is engaging and timely (how I wish it wasn’t so timely). Ng is a talented writer, and her prose is a joy to read. And yet, I struggled to connect fully to this book. I didn’t always want to return to it, and I felt consistently that I wanted something more. What should have been an emotionally resonant book felt a bit flat to me – I don’t know if it was the pacing, or simply that the characters were just slightly undercooked. In the end, I didn’t feel like this was nearly as successful as her other two novels that I read and LOVED. Although I loved the description of Margaret’s bad ass and emotional act of resistance, I felt very disconnected from Margaret as a character, and so despite weeping for humanity in general, I didn’t much care about the the characters in the novel specifically. That, to me, is a flaw in the book.
If you aspire to be an Ng completist, this book is fine – certainly the topic is worthy of your time. If you’re looking for one great novel, this might fall short of your expectations.
