My Other Heart 🧡

By Emma Nanami Strenner.

My Other Heart is a poignant, lyrical meditation on identity, belonging, and the unspoken grief that binds generations.

Opening with the devastating loss of a child in a bustling American airport, the book follows the intersecting lives of three women across time and continents, weaving a rich and thought-provoking tapestry.

In 2000, Mimi Truang loses her toddler daughter during a layover in Philadelphia. Seventeen years later, in the affluent suburb of Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, two best friends—Kit and Sabrina—are preparing to leave home and face the world.

Kit, adopted by white parents, seeks answers about her Japanese heritage and sets off for Tokyo in pursuit of connection and clarity. Sabrina, the daughter of a strict Chinese single mother, stays behind, navigating her own questions about culture, legacy, and freedom under the mentorship of a formidable boss.

Strenner handles the themes of race, class, and adoption with elegance and depth. The exploration of identity is never forced or over-explained, and instead unfolds naturally through the characters’ choices, silences, and revelations.

Each woman is richly drawn, their inner lives tenderly portrayed. Mimi’s aching resilience, Kit’s longing for roots, and Sabrina’s gradual awakening all speak to different aspects of the human need to belong—to people, to places, and to ourselves.

The writing is beautifully restrained. Strenner’s prose flows effortlessly, grounded yet evocative. Her descriptions of Tokyo are particularly striking, not overly romanticised, but alive with the bewilderment and wonder of a young woman on the brink of transformation.

The story’s structure is effective, gradually building to a reunion that is as quiet as it is powerful. The ending does not offer dramatic closure, but something far more rewarding: understanding.

This is a graceful, intelligent debut that navigates difficult topics—grief, transracial adoption, cultural alienation but with honesty and care. A compelling read that stays with you long after the final page.

Thank you so much to Georgie and the team at Cornerstone for sending me a copy of the book to read and review. The book is out now and available to purchase.

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