"Maggie" is a literary exploration of the concept that each crisis may also be an opportunity. For the narrator the crisis is multilayered - her husband's disclosure of an affair, his subsequent leaving, and on top of that the diagnosis of breast cancer and seemingly unhealed trauma of her mother's death. The story is not only one of overcoming life's obstacles but also an exploration of race, especially in the context of entering a white family as an Asian woman deprived of her own familial support system; of the power of friendship; as well as how one's life story is told and re-told depending on a context.

Surprisingly humorous and uplifting, considering lots of heavy subjects. A very strong debut.

Maggie by Katie Yee features a central character going through a difficult time as her husband leaves her for another woman at the same time as she is battling breast cancer and grieving both for the loss of her own mother and for the family life she thought she'd put together.