'Deeply moving'
Abi Daré

'Weaves expertly between present and past'
Celeste Ng

'Unforgettable'
Washington Post

'Mesmerising'
Harper's Bazaar

Suchi first sees Haiwen in their Shanghai neighbourhood when she is seven years old, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossoms into love, but when Haiwen secretly enlists in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, Suchi is left with just his violin and a note: Forgive Me.

Sixty years later, recently widowed Haiwen spots Suchi at a grocery store in Los Angeles. It feels to Haiwen like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back. In the twilight of their lives, can they reclaim their past and the love they lost?

Homeseeking follows the separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history, telling Haiwen's story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi's from her childhood to the present, meeting at the crucible of their lives. From Shanghai to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States, neither loses sight of the home they hold in their hearts.

'A love story in more ways than one'
Vanessa Chan

"A towering achievement in storytelling . . . an impactful love story, told against the backdrop of historical events . . . one of the best debut novels of this century." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Masterful and ambitious . . . mesmerising in its balance between global events and intimate suffering, and its portrayal of ruptured lives is heartrending" - Harper's Bazaar

"Skilfully interweaves the personal and the political to produce a kaleidoscopic and affecting work" - Guardian

"This epic novel is both the sweeping story of one country's fraught history and an intimate look at a couple's enduring bond" - Real Simple

"Wonderfully cinematic, gorgeously orchestrated . . . like any tried-and-true epic (think Pachinko or The Joy Luck Club) . . . Homeseeking is just a genuine pleasure to read." - San Francisco Chronicle

"[A] poignant debut . . . through her characters' ranging sensibilities, Chen examines the psychological aftershocks of war . . . history and fate, displacement and separation. These are grand topics, but through Suchi and Haiwen's quests for belonging amid insurmountable conflict, Homeseeking captures the enduring and unexpected ways these larger forces impact individual lives." - New York Times Book Review

"While Karissa Chen's sweeping epic, Homeseeking, centers on war, love and family, more than anything it's about the immigrant's phantom limb - the longing for home and for the lives and loves left behind . . . The ambition and scope of Homeseeking are impressive enough before considering Chen's craft and execution. It is impossible not to marvel at the many strands she has woven into this beating heart of a novel . . . It is rare that a 500-page book delivers on its weight, and even rarer that a book I'm asked to review becomes an all-time favorite. But as I tearfully turned the last page of Homeseeking, I knew that it had earned a place on my top shelf. For Chen has finally put into words the lifelong grief I have carried as an immigrant - grief for a childhood, a place, a home that no longer exist . . . Just as I did, many readers are bound to find their home within the pages of Chen's unforgettable debut." - Washington Post

"The epic sweep of Karissa Chen's debut, Homeseeking, spans borders, oceans, decades, and wars to unfurl the tale of Suchi and Haiwen, childhood sweethearts whose fates are bound together from their time as neighbors in Japan-occupied Shanghai. Vivid historical detail brings alive the settings, from 1960s Hong Kong to 1970s Taiwan to 1980s New York, and finally, to late-2000s Los Angeles - where the now elders reconnect to see if they can overcome their past traumas. Pachinko-like in scope, it too illustrates how individual lives, here of the Chinese diaspora, are buffeted by history and geopolitics, and that the ensuing pain and loss can be borne across a lifetime" - Vogue

"An epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as the world pulls them together and apart. Following two separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history, Homeseeking is a detailed portrait of the Chinese diaspora and the power of love and loyalty against all odds" - Chicago Review of Books