White Ivy
by Susie Yang
Ivy Lin was a thief. But you’d never know it to look at her…
Ivy Lin, a Chinese immigrant growing up in a low-income apartment complex outside Boston, is desperate to assimilate with her American peers. Her parents disapprove, berating her for her mediocre grades and what they see as her lazy, entitled attitude. But Ivy has a secret weapon, her grandmother Meifeng, from whom she learns to shoplift to get the things she needs to fit in.
Ivy develops a taste for winning and for wealth. As an adult, she reconnects with the blond-haired golden boy of a prominent political family, and thinks it’s fate. But just as Ivy is about to have everything she’s ever wanted, a ghost from her past resurfaces, threatening the almost-perfect life she’s worked so hard to build.
Filled with surprising twists, and offering sharp insights into the immigrant experience, WHITE IVY is both a love triangle and a coming-of-age story – as well as a dark glimpse at what can happen when we yearn for success at any cost.
"WHITE IVY is magic . . . and not soon to be forgotten" - Joshua Ferris
"Totally addictive, twisting and twisted: Ivy Lin will get under your skin" - Erin Kelly
"Dark and toxic... WHITE IVY takes a hold of you and doesn't let go. A book I won't forget in a hurry" - Harriet Tyce
"A powerful debut" - Heat
"...[a] gem of a twisty thriller" - Psychologies Magazine
"Yang is excellent at pacing and surprises… This is Austen mixed with the hyperreal sharpness of Donna Tartt" - Irish Times
“This determined outsider’s scaling of the walls of New England privilege has echoes of Donna Tartt” - Strong Words Magazine
“…[a] sharp debut…” - i Paper
“WHITE IVY is a fascinating look at the Chinese-American immigrant experience with an unforgettable heroine at its centre” - Red Magazine
“Yang deftly explores the Chinese-American immigrant experience while maintaining the addictive pace and glossy feel of a HBO drama – and the manipulative, determined Ivy Lin makes a fascinating fictional antiheroine” - Stylist Loves
"...frank, propulsive, clever; a deftly handled and funny 21st century comedy of manners that so interestingly and compellingly explores the symbiosis of cultural and personal history with identity. One of my favourite novels of the year" - Susannah Dickey