What We Left Unsaid

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What to expect

'Heartbreaking, beautiful and confronting' SARAH WINMAN

'A timely conversation-starter of a book' WIZ WHARTON

'Kept me enthralled until the very last page' ROWAN COLEMAN

'Truly gripping and moving . . . I was hooked' LIBBY PAGE

'Exhilarating and poignant, I devoured it in one go' JINI REDDY

'Brilliant and powerful . . . her best novel yet' BIDISHA


What happened on the road will change them forever...

Thirty years ago, Alex, Bonnie and Kevin went on a road trip with their parents. But something cut their journey short, and they never made it there. Something that shifted the dynamic of their family forever.

Today, Alex, Bonnie and Kevin might be siblings, but they've grown apart, each holding heavy secrets close to their chests. When their mother's health takes a turn for the worse, she asks them to relive that old road trip to see her, and they're forced into close quarters once more.

As the siblings retrace old steps on an epic journey, they are led to finally share the parts of their lives they've tried to keep hidden. Along the way, they can learn the truth of what really happened in their fractured past - a past they now have the chance to mend.

With 'powerful and beautiful writing' (Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author), Winnie M Li weaves an emotive and eye-opening exploration of family, race, growing up, and what it means to be American.


***

What readers are saying about Winnie Li:

'Such a compelling and convincing read'
'An excellent, meaty page-turner . . . couldn't put it down!'
'A powerful book. Amazing, incredible and also heartbreaking'
'A brilliantly-written timely book'
'Gripping and hugely enthralling'
'Engaging and intelligent . . . five easy stars!'
'Completely absorbing and unputdownable'

Critics Review

A poignant, affecting novel, both intimate and sweeping in its range. Wrapped up in a story of family secrets and the traumatic legacy of silence is a deeper meditation on third culture children navigating the intersection of race, identity and politics and what it means to be a modern American. A timely, confronting conversation starter of a book.
author of Ghost, Girl, Banana
A road trip takes three siblings across America - the intricate landscape that faces them all, though, is the turbulent dynamics of family and memory. Heartbreaking, beautiful and confronting. This is a wonderful new direction from the author of Complicit
Sunday Times bestselling author of Still Life
A truly gripping and moving exploration of siblings and the secrets we keep from the people closest to us - all of it set against the unexpected twists and turns of an American road trip. The characters are so richly developed, the sibling dynamic so realistic, the glimpse of America so insightful. I was hooked' - Libby Page, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lido
This sweeping novel takes us on a journey of heartbreak and hope across a hidden America, and kept me enthralled until the very last page - Rowan Coleman, Sunday Times bestselling author of Summer of Impossible Things
I loved this book. It captured the complex dynamics of sibling relationships absolutely brilliantly. And it portrayed the multilayered experience of being an immigrant and the child of immigrants, of loving your country and yet never quite feeling as if you belong there. The Route 66 road trip is a symbol of a fractured America but also a still-vital dream of unity - in politics and in families, too. It was heartbreaking and hopeful and it spoke to me deeply.
Julie Cohen
This is another brilliant and powerful book by Winnie, whose work and activism I am a huge fan of (and have been since the beginning). I was riveted from the very first page by the bold storytelling, cinematic scope, lurking menace and the pressure of poisonous secrets - I think it's her best novel yet. She's a master storyteller and this thrills and chills in equal measure - all the more so because it's so acutely realistic. These are real people, real places, real pain. It's a great American novel and speaks so powerfully to our times of drama, division, violence and defiance.
Bidisha
Charting the journey of Asian-American siblings on a road trip across a polarised nation, What We Left Unsaid breaks (long-overdue) new ground. The tale of family dynamics, wanderlust, tragedy and renewal was exhilarating and poignant, and I devoured it in one go.'
author of Wanderland
Lots of twists... Wonderfully descriptive and panoramic... A moving exploration of fraught sibling relationships... A timely and thought-provoking novel, which undoubtedly will be adapted for the big or small screen.
Irish Independent
A road trip takes three siblings across America - the intricate landscape that faces them all, though, is the turbulent dynamics of family and memory. Heartbreaking, beautiful and confronting. This is a wonderful new direction from the author of Complicit
Sarah Winman
A poignant, affecting novel, both intimate and sweeping in its range. Wrapped up in a story of family secrets and the traumatic legacy of silence is a deeper meditation on third culture children navigating the intersection of race, identity and politics and what it means to be a modern American. A timely, confronting conversation starter of a book.
Wiz Wharton

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