"What a debut: unsettling, poetic, intricate and deeply touching. It’s been a long time since I was this moved by a novel." - Julia von Lucadou, author of "The High-Rise Diver"
When young doctor Novana finally sees her mother’s face again, it’s on a huge billboard in an underground mall in Taipei. It’s been eighteen years since she last saw her mother. Eighteen years since artist March left her daughter behind in Germany without a word of explanation.
When Novana sees the billboard, everything pales into insignificance – her desire for a fresh start, which brought her to Taipei; her work at the neonatal IC unit; the nights she spends wandering the streets of this cosmopolitan city…
One night, at a karaoke evening, Novana meets Sihan, a fearless, vivacious and determined activist. Novana is instantly drawn to her, and something she once thought lost appears to have found its way back into her life: the possibility of intimacy.
A compelling and unequivocal novel about rebellious women, desire, broken hearts, and Taiwan’s uncertain future, which asks: what are we really willing to fight for?