Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet. After sixteen-year-old Lydia goes missing and her body turns up in the lake, the police rule it as a suicide. But Lydia's family are determined to search for clues to find out what really happened...

'There is much here that might impress Pulitzer and Man Booker judges...Ng brilliantly depicts the destruction that parents can inflict on their children and on each other' Mark Lawson, Guardian

'This intriguing tale of unhappy families will have you gripped from the opening line . . . No wonder it beat Hilary Mantel and Stephen King to win Amazon's book of the year' Stylist

Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee; a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue - in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James's case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the centre of every party. But Lydia is under pressures that have nothing to do with growing up in 1970s small town Ohio. Her father is an American born of first-generation Chinese immigrants, and his ethnicity, and hers, make them conspicuous in any setting.

When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, James is consumed by guilt and sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to make someone accountable, no matter what the cost. Lydia's older brother, Nathan, is convinced that local bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's the youngest in the family - Hannah - who observes far more than anyone realises and who may be the only one who knows what really happened.

And if you loved Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere, pre-order Celeste Ng's brilliant new novel, Our Missing Hearts, now

What readers are saying:

'Devastating...A truly tragic but devastatingly well written book'

'Ng is a true craftsman. I implore you to read this. Also my favourite ending of a novel so far this year'

'This is the best book I have read this year'

'Really enjoyed this book, deeply moving, sad and thought provoking'

The mysterious circumstances of 16-year-old Lydia Lee's tragic death have her loved ones wondering how, exactly, she spent her free time. This ghostly debut novel calls to mind The Lovely Bones