Lucy Liu Narrates OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng! Audiobook on sale October 4, 2022

By Jennifer Rubins | August 3 2022 | Audiobook News

Check those audiobook holds! We are thrilled to share that award-winning actress Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels, Elementary, Shazam! Fury of the Gods) narrates the audiobook of OUR MISSING HEARTS, the third novel from the bestselling author Celeste Ng (on sale October 4, 2022). Ng is also the author of Little Fires Everywhere, a #1 LibraryReads pick that was adapted into a Hulu miniseries and was the most-watched drama ever on the streaming service.

OUR MISSING HEARTS is a deeply suspenseful and heartrending novel about the unbreakable love between a mother and child in a society consumed by fear. For a decade, 12-year-old Bird and his father’s lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old. OUR MISSING HEARTS is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice.

Lucy Liu recording OUR MISSING HEARTS audiobook
Photo credit: Penguin Random House Audio


“Lucy Liu is a talented actor I’ve watched and admired for years, so I’m thrilled and honored that she’ll be recording the audiobook of OUR MISSING HEARTS. And I think that as an Asian American woman and a parent, she’ll bring a particular personal connection to the novel, which is deeply personal for me as well,” says Ng.

“Celeste is such a beautiful writer. When I was asked if I would narrate her new novel, I was incredibly excited. She worked on OUR MISSING HEARTS for seven years and it is spectacularly written and absolute poetry,” says Liu. “Narrating a book in its entirety is a big task because you delve into the process of what the author is trying to express through the characters and through the story. I hope listeners understand the impact of Celeste’s words about discrimination, racism, separating children from their families and the impact it has on humanity.”

OUR MISSING HEARTS is Liu’s first solo audiobook performance, but her voice can be heard in numerous animated series and films, including the Disney+ series Star Wars: Visions, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Kung Fu Panda and Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast.

OUR MISSING HEARTS will be available as CD, audiobook download, and in large print from BOT. Also available in hardcover and eBook editions from Penguin Press. The audiobook also features a note read by the Author.

WATCH Celeste Ng in our ‘Fiction of Connection Panel’ from our Spring 2022 PRH Book & Author Festival!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-6BbTLd8wY

A Novel

Read by Lucy Liu

“Actor Lucy Liu infuses her narration with tension, adding to the unease that runs throughout the book. VERDICT Liu’s gritty and driving narration stays true to the thrust of Ng’s grim words; this is not a cozy listen, but one that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats. A necessary addition for all public libraries.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Additional Praise for the print edition: “As lyrical as it is chilling, as astonishing as it is empathic, Our Missing Hearts arguably achieves literary perfection.”—Booklist (starred review)