Is 'Our Missing Hearts' Based On A True Story?

I’ve read 'Our Missing Hearts' and can confirm it’s not based on a true story, though it feels chillingly plausible. Celeste Ng crafted a dystopian tale set in a near-future America where Asian American families are torn apart by government policies. The novel’s power lies in how it mirrors real historical injustices, like Japanese internment or the Chinese Exclusion Act, without being a direct retelling. The protagonist Bird’s journey to find his mother echoes the emotional weight of real-life separations, but the events are fictional. Ng’s research on systemic racism and censorship gives the story authenticity, but it’s ultimately a warning, not a documentary.

For readers who want non-fiction parallels, I’d suggest 'The Making of Asian America' by Erika Lee or 'They Called Us Enemy' by George Takei.

As someone who analyzes speculative fiction, I’d argue 'Our Missing Hearts' is a composite of truths rather than a single true story. Ng stitches together elements from multiple real-world atrocities to create her dystopia. The forced separations of families recall ICE deportations, while the book-burning and cultural suppression mirror Nazi Germany and McCarthyism. The protagonist’s Chinese American identity adds layers—the novel’s 'PACT Act' echoes actual laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act, but amplified to dystopian extremes.

What makes Ng’s approach brilliant is her focus on microaggressions escalating into full-blown oppression. Neighborhood watches reporting 'un-American' behavior? That’s a slightly twisted version of post-9/11 surveillance. The way children are indoctrinated to distrust their own heritage? It’s modeled after historical assimilation policies in boarding schools for Indigenous kids.

For deeper dives into these themes, try 'The Vanishing Half' for fictional exploration of racial passing, or 'The Woman Warrior' for memoir-style reflections on cultural erasure. Ng’s genius is making readers ask, 'Could this happen?' rather than 'Did this happen?'

Having dissected 'Our Missing Hearts' in book clubs, we all agreed it’s fiction with documentary-level realism. Ng doesn’t adapt one true event but synthesizes centuries of anti-Asian sentiment into a single narrative. The scene where Bird’s mother’s poetry is banned? That’s Ng nodding to artists like Ai Weiwei who faced censorship. The government’s 'anti-Asian propaganda' campaign? It’s a hyperbolic version of COVID-era scapegoating.

The heartbreaking parent-child separation plotline isn’t lifted from headlines—it’s an original scenario—but the emotions are painfully real. Ng interviewed families affected by immigration policies, and it shows. The book’s strength is making invented horrors feel inevitable, like a logical extension of our world’s worst tendencies.

If you want true stories with similar themes, pick up 'The Leavers' by Lisa Ko or 'All You Can Ever Know' by Nicole Chung. Both explore adoption and cultural displacement with nonfiction-level intimacy.