Rabbit Moon

In this, her seventh novel, bestselling Haigh (Mercy Street) introduces protagonist Lindsey Litvak, who has left college to teach English in Beijing. In the wee hours of a Sunday morning in the financial district of Shanghai, Lindsey is unconscious on the sidewalk, having been critically injured by a hit-and-run driver. An ambulance takes her to the hospital, and as the hospital staff tends to her, a police detective finds her name and contact information and calls her father in California, who, with her mother, rushes to be with the injured Lindsey. Not only are the parents trying to find out exactly what happened and what Lindsey’s condition and prognosis are, but this is their first time together since their divorce. Being together in this challenging period only layers on more stress, and dealing with the Chinese bureaucracies (while knowing little Chinese) makes things worse. They go through Lindsey’s apartment, but nothing there is recognizable as Lindsey’s—and what is she even doing in Shanghai? The backstories of these and other complex and memorable characters are told, and the novel concludes with a glimpse into their futures.