The Kong women are in crisis. A disastrous trip to visit her home orphanage in China has plunged eighteen-year-old Ari into a self-destructive spiral. Her adoptive mother, Charlie, a lawyer with a great heart, is desperate to keep her daughter safe. Meanwhile, Charlie must endure the prickly scrutiny of her beautiful, Bryn Mawreducated mother, Granwho, as the daughter of a cultured Chinese doctor, came to America to survive Maos Revolutionand her sister, Les, a brilliant judge with a penchant for ruling over everyones lives.As they cope with Aris journey of discovery and its aftermath, the Kong women will come face-to-face with the truths of their livesfour powerful, intertwining stories of accomplishment, tenacity, secrets, loneliness, and love. Beautifully illuminating the bonds of family and blood, The Year She Left Us explores the promise and pain of adoption, the price of assimilation and achievement, the debt we owe to others, and what we owe to ourselves. Full of pathos and humor, featuring a quartet of unforgettable characters, it marks the debut of an important new voice in American fiction.