TOMORROW IN SHANGHAI (BLAIR, AUGUST 30)

May-lee Chai inhabits a world between worlds. Half-chinese and half-american, she is well aware of how having a foot in each nation creates a life full of conflicts and parallels, contradictions and injustices that remain invisible to those confined to a single culture. Chai drew these out with aplomb in her 2018 short story collection, Useful Phrases for Immigrants, which earned the 2019 American Book Award for its frank depiction of everyday nuances for America's Chinese diaspora. Tomorrow in Shanghai sees Chai expanding into new worlds (literally: a nanny struggles to survive in China's “New Shanghai” colony on Mars) and consolidating old themes (her narrators, often Chinese-american, are frequently on the receiving end of American racism). Her writing is simple in style, but rich in details that could only come through lived experience.