THE UNPASSING

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Praise

"For all of its pathos, its themes of cross-cultural intermingling, its stories of immigrant arrival, marginalization and eventual accommodation, “The Unpassing” is a singularly vast and captivating novel, beautifully written in free-flowing prose that quietly disarms with its intermittent moments of poetic idiosyncrasy. But what makes Lin’s novel such an important book is the extent to which it probes America’s mythmaking about itself, which can just as easily unmake as it can uplift." --Brian Haman, The New York Times Book Review

"Lin’s attention to detail is startling, and though she keeps close to Gavin’s childhood experience, she also allows us to read between the lines and intuit the depth of the family’s grief, financial straits and fear of belittlement from their white neighbors and colleagues. Anyone who has ever grieved ― be it the loss of a person, home, country or security ― will feel a sense of recognition. The Unpassing is a remarkable, unflinching debut." --Ilana Masad, The Washington Post

"An arresting portrait of an immigrant family’s pivotal moment of crisis . . . a nuanced portrayal of the American frontier . . . Lin’s spare, lyric prose sets an elemental stage, a place indifferent to human suffering, cycling through life and death on a larger scale . . . Lin takes us through crisis and personal questioning, reminding us that we are closer to the brink than we’d like to admit . . . The Unpassing is a powerful debut from an author to watch." --K.B. Thors, San Francisco Chronicle

"[A] grim, breathtakingly beautiful debut novel . . . Lin excels when she gets small, with finely observed renderings of the family’s surroundings . . . The way this chilling, captivating book concludes will delight as much as it challenges, offering as it does a blend of escape, tragedy, triumph, loss and what we’ve expected all along." --Nathan Deuel, The Los Angeles Times

"Harrowing . . . In lyrical, intimate prose, Lin reveals the harsh realities of working class life in 1980s Alaska and the failed promises of the American dream." --Thomas Gebremedhin, The Wall Street Journal Magazine

"In this spare, deeply felt debut novel, Lin resists received wisdom about the American dream to craft a family saga about the difficulty of grieving far from home." --Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire

"The Unpassing took me a while to get through, but not because I was bored. Because every single sentence was stunning . . . This isn't a page-turner. It's a full on page-savorer." --Mehera Bonner, Cosmopolitan (Best Books of May)

"Stunning . . . With powerful and poetic prose, Lin captures the uncertainty and insight of childhood . . . Lin's majestic writing immerses the reader in the bodily experiences of her characters, who writhe, paw, dig, salivate, and draw readers into their world." --Maggie Taft, Booklist (starred review)

"Lin’s talent for vivid, laser-sharp prose―especially when describing Alaska’s stark beauty or the family’s eccentric temperament―is undeniable." --Kirkus