This story of two teenage girls the summer before they begin college and the diverging paths their circumstances take them on was fascinating. Their relationship was a really interesting dimension of the story even though for most of it they are on different continents. The themes of adoption and racism as experienced in the microcosm of an affluent, small knit community were beautifully explored. In fact the author’s portrayal of all the women was wonderfully written - Mimi whose baby disappears in the airport, Sally’s experiences as an adoptive mother and Lee Lee as a hard working undocumented woman. I really loved it.

Do you remember that first summer of freedom after finishing school and starting the rest of your life as a grown-up?

Well, that’s where this story is set as two best friends from a high school in Philadelphia – Kit and Sabrina – both of East Asian heritage realise that although their ethnic heritage unites them, there is so much more that divides them. Like money, class, brains and looks.

And from the very first page, there is the mystery of what happened to Mimi, after she was separated from her baby daughter in Philadelphia airport, some seventeen years ago.

As the book takes us to Philadelphia, to Ho Chi Minh, to Tokyo and back again, this is a moving, evocative and surprising tale of the ever-shifting canvas of people, places and thing that make us who we are.

I found this a hard book to read - I initially found it hard to become absorbed but as the story unfolded I was drawn in and felt quite bereft when I finished it. It left me with lots to think about - about a sense of belonging, family and finding your place in the world.

Mimi - on her way back to Vietnam when she lost her daughter - 17 years later she returns to America to try to find her.

Kit - half American and half Japanese, adopted by white well-to-do parents - travels to Japanese to find out about her culture and heritage.

Sabrina - the daughter of a Chinese immigrant single mother - forced to give up her trip to China, takes up an internship where she is forced to ask questions and seek answers to issues she has largely ignored.

Each is on a journey and their meeting will transform all their lives.

Absolutely loved this and it kept me guessing! Grew quite fond of some of the characters during the storyline but others didn’t feel as well defined.

Would definitely recommend

My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner is a powerful debut that explores the complexities of identity, belonging, and the search for connection across generations. The story begins with the disappearance of Mimi Truang’s toddler daughter at the Philadelphia airport in 2000, setting the stage for a journey of self-discovery and the long wait for answers. Seventeen years later, we follow two best friends, Kit and Sabrina, as they approach the end of high school in a wealthy, predominantly white town. Both women are navigating the intersections of race, class, and their own evolving sense of who they are.

Kit, a half-Japanese, half-American teenager, takes a trip to Tokyo, determined to reconnect with her Japanese roots. In the process, she experiences a love that forces her to rethink her concept of belonging. Sabrina, whose Chinese immigrant mother is strict and secretive, struggles with her own identity and the idea of home. Despite financial challenges, Sabrina’s professional relationship with her ambitious boss becomes a catalyst for self-exploration, leading her to confront questions about her heritage that she has long avoided.

As the summer draws to a close, the lives of Mimi, Kit, and Sabrina intersect in Philadelphia, where they come face to face with the truth about their identities and blood ties. The novel beautifully portrays the emotional and cultural journey of each character, shedding light on their search for answers and their desire to build a better life, often in the face of adversity. The exploration of race, immigration, and the experience of being an outsider is poignant and thought-provoking. Strenner deftly portrays the harsh realities of discrimination while also highlighting the resilience and strength of those who are striving to make a new life in an unfamiliar world.

The characters, particularly Mimi, Kit, and Sabrina, are deeply endearing. I was moved by their courage and determination to uncover their pasts and shape their futures. Sabrina’s character, in particular, evolved significantly throughout the book. Initially, I found her somewhat self-effacing, but as the story progressed, it became clear that her journey was far more complex and meaningful than I first realised. The ending, which I won’t spoil, took me completely by surprise and added an incredible layer of depth to the story.

Strenner also paints a vivid picture of the cultural richness of Japan and Vietnam, both of which are integral to the characters' journeys. The novel made me eager to explore these countries and learn more about their cultures, which are portrayed with great sensitivity and richness.

My Other Heart is a stunning coming-of-age story that captures the emotional turbulence of growing up, the longing for belonging, and the challenge of reconciling one’s past with the future. It’s a beautifully constructed narrative that touches on universal themes of identity, family, and the immigrant experience, leaving a lasting impact on the reader.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

A beautiful book about discovering true identity. A child is lost. A mother is distraught. Two teenage girls grow up together, learning about love and friendship. A mystery surrounds their story. The book is written in a thoughtful and moving narrative. The reader is drawn into the lives of different families and cultures. The ending throws up an unexpected surprise which brings the tale full circle to the beginning. I found this easy to read, absorbing, insightful, honest and interesting.

I enjoyed this novel which I read before publication on NetGalley UK in return for an unbiased review.

The story tells of a mother who his year old baby goes missing an airport in the mid 90s never to be found. In the novel we need to Asian 18-year-olds one of whom is adopted to white parents and the other living with her Chinese mother both these young ladies live in Philadelphia in USA if you follow their lives as they reach maturity at the same time wanted to know more about their own backgrounds .
The novel touches on racism and being adopted both of which are quite deep subjects the novelist manages to do this with subtlety and poise
The author has a clear flowing prose style and the novel was an enjoyable relaxing read
The character development in the novel is covered beautifully and all the characters seem like real people. Their reactions to the individual stresses in their lives again are perfectly described.
The novel is set between Philadelphia and Tokyo where one of the young girls visits during her summer holiday holidays prior to starting university.
I enjoy a good twist in a novel and I thought I could see where the twist is coming when I was 80% of the way through the novel it was definitely worth waiting for.
This is a primarily character driven novel and I’d recommend it for those who enjoy interesting characters. If you like Yellow face by R F Yuang then I think you would enjoy this too
Read an early copy on NetGalley UK the book is published in the UK on the 17th of July 2025 by random house UK Cornerstone
Review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.

Every mother’s nightmare! Captivating book which channels your deepest fears.

The girls stories are well drawn, the ending was easy enough to guess but to me this wasn’t a mystery story so that was ok.

Nicely written, easy to read without being boring.

Mimi takes her eye off her 1 year old daughter in Philadelphia Airport in 1998 and never sees her again. Nobody will help her find her and she is deported back to Vietnam devastated.
Fast forward to 2015, Kit and Sabrina, both Asian girls living in a predominantly white middle class area, are friends even though they are both of a different class. Kit lives with her adoptive white parents in a big house and wants for nothing, whereas Sabrina lives with her single Chinese mother in a rundown area and has to work for everything she has.
The story follows the lives of these three women: Mimi, never giving up looking for her daughter Ngan; Kit travelling to Tokyo for the summer and Sabrina who was desperate to travel but forced to stay home.
I thought this was more of a Bildungsroman where the girls have left school and are at the in-between stage of starting college. It gives an insight into their lives and thoughts and also gives an understanding of what it is like to be different.
I did feel sorry for Mimi as she takes on the search for her child but I think I’d guessed the outcome quite early on.
An enjoyable read and an excellent debut novel 4⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

An interesting premise showing just how easy it to be stereotyped, not heard and the end result is the loss of a child. Mimi never gave up hoping to track her daughter down.
In Philadelphia are two families with daughters who are friends despite their different financial circumstances.
There is a lot of time jumping which is difficult to track.
The grand denouement wasn’t a surprise and the ending tapered out after this.

What a fantastic debut novel, I look forward to reading more from the author in future!

Much of the story is the based around final summer before Sabrina and Kit leave for college. Sabrina was raised in relative poverty while Kit had a privileged upbringing. Their friendship is bound by intrigue around their identity. It also explores the lives of wider characters in the girls lives such as Mimi, Lee Lee and Sally Herzog. It was written really well as the book spans the whole lives of both girls without the chapters being confusing. The ending wasn’t fully what I expected but gave closure.

I agree with another reviewer that I would have loved to read more from Mimis perspective. Eva Kim was a stand out character for me too.

Many thanks for the ARC of this novel.

My Other Heart is a wonderful read, a commentary on present day American youth and the ever present need to fit in with peers. A coming of age novel like no other that I have read and a twist at the end #nospoilers!
Sabrina and Kit are both Asian girls, one who was adopted and is navigating her nationality and relationship with her mother and the other being constrained by her mother due to culture and wealth.
I loved this book, and I may read again, the storytelling and language is so descriptive. I really didn’t want it to end …. Maybe a sequel in there?? (Please)

In 1998, Mimi is waiting at Philadelphia Airport to board a flight home to Vietnam when her baby, Ngan, disappears. Unable to make herself fully understood, Mimi is sedated and sent home alone. Now she is finally able to travel back to America to search for the child she has never stopped thinking about and missing. Sabrina is the child of a single, Chinese mother for whom life is a constant struggle, but who aspires to a better life for her daughter and will make whatever sacrifices are necessary. Kit is Sabrina’s best friend (when she feels like it), but everything falls into her lap as the adopted, possibly Japanese, child of wealthy, indulgent white parents. What unites them is their feeling of not really knowing where they belong, not quite fitting in, and wanting to connect with their roots. This summer, things are about to change. The ideas about cultural heritage and the difficulties facing immigrants, both legal and otherwise, in a different country are interesting and often moving. The contrasts between those with money and resources and those without is well portrayed. However, I felt the different narratives in different countries didn’t hang together very well, with the Japanese section feeling a bit tacked on, while I wanted to know more about the mothers and their perspectives. I found Kit really annoying, so spoiled and entitled and careless to her parents and Sabrina, and the teenage romances left me a bit bored. What I liked most was the insight into the challenges facing people trying to make a better life in the States, while needing to keep under the radar as undocumented immigrants, and that was what kept me reading to the end.

Sadly, a DNF for me. The story gets off to an interesting start but I wish there was more of Mimi’s POV in the beginning! I realise that Kit and Sabrina are teenagers but their passages really read as such and I found myself becoming bored.

My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner is a novel about identity and the desire to know where you come from. The story is told mainly from the point of views of Sabrina and Kit who are best friends living in America. Kit who is of unknown Asian heritage was adopted by a rich white couple while Sabrina, who is poor, lives with her strict mother who has set ideas on who Sabrina should be.

A big focus of the novel is the differences in the 2 friends lives and the challenges this causes in their relationship.

This is.a.very well written book and you start to care about some of the characters and what happens to them.

Thank you, Random House, for granting me access to this book. I find it quite remarkable that this is the author's debut work, as it challenges my perception and makes it hard to believe that this is their first foray into writingThe storytelling was nothing short of mesmerizing, weaving a tapestry of emotions that flowed seamlessly between the characters. Each interaction was charged with depth and nuance, creating an enchanting rhythm that captured the essence of their journey. The narrative unfolded like a beautifully orchestrated symphony, its harmonious blend of dialogue and description drawing me deeper into their world. It was truly a perfect convergence of artistry and imagination. The bond between a mum and a son hit me deeper as the mum of a boy. Brilliant read

Emma Nanami Strenner’s My Other Heart is a deeply moving novel about identity, family, and the search for belonging. Spanning continents and generations, the story weaves together the lives of three women—Mimi, Kit, and Sabrina—who are each on a journey to uncover their pasts and understand their roots.

In 1998, Mimi Traung and her baby daughter Ngan wait at Philadelphia airport for their flight back to Vietnam—until the unthinkable happens. Seventeen years later, best friends Kit and Sabrina are preparing for summer trips to Japan and China, each hoping to connect with their heritage. But as their families watch anxiously from suburban Philadelphia, long-buried secrets begin to surface. Meanwhile, Mimi returns to the city, searching for the child she lost all those years ago. As their paths converge, the novel unravels assumptions about identity, belonging, and the meaning of family.

Strenner’s lyrical prose and deeply felt character work make My Other Heart an emotionally resonant read. The novel moves fluidly between past and present, allowing the reader to uncover the truth alongside its characters. Though the pacing is measured, the rich storytelling and emotional weight make it a compelling exploration of self-discovery.

A heartfelt and beautifully written novel, My Other Heart is perfect for readers who enjoy literary fiction that explores family, heritage, and the bonds that define us.

I really enjoyed this story of love and loss

The friendships were believable in their complexities
I think it is a good coming of age story to show you how friendships change and you grow up!

Also the love a mother has for a stolen daughter is so sad and the thought of your child growing up not with you!

A lovely read

This was a good story but very long winded at points weaving through different stories. For me this made it hard to want to stick with it. The story was worth sticking with but just hard to remain focused.

After Mimi Traung's baby daughter goes missing while she's waiting for a flight at Philadelphia airport, her life is changed forever, a never ending sense of loss dogging her at every step.

Years later, two young women - Sabrina and Kit - prepare to travel back to Asia, to what they believe to be their countries of origin, while their families wait to see how things go. Because at least in one case, that is far from the truth...

When three lives intersect at a central point, unexpected discoveries are made and unwelcome truths must be confronted. Can anyone emerge unscathed from the fallout?

This is an emotional multicultural tale about loss, identity and the lengths we humans go to, to get what we want and to find out who we are. Worth checking out - especially for those interested in issues of family secrets, the challenges of parenthood, and the yearning for a true sense of self. It gets 3.5 stars.