Front Desk

Funny, smart Mia Tang is an aspiring writer who loves working on the front desk of a motel her parents manage, but the USA is painfully far from the paradise they thought it would be when they left China. The motel's cruel, exploitative owner Mr Yao pays her family barely anything, and Mia is teased for her second-hand clothes.

When her mother comes home from work having been beaten, Mia realises that things are much worse than she thought. Every day her parents go to work, Mia fears for their safety - especially when they risk everything by hiding immigrants in the motel. Mia will need to use every ounce of her wit and courage to help her family - as well as her writing talent.

Warm, exhilarating, occasionally shocking and genuinely educational for British readers, Front Desk - based on the author's own incredible life story - is a book that makes you want to stand up and cheer for all the Mias out there. From the care with which people from different regions of China are characterised, to the tender treatment given to the deferred dreams of Mia’s parents, it sings with authenticity as well as humour. Front Desk is as frank and nuanced as only an insider’s account can be.