Ng, author of 2014’s Everything I Never Told You, didn’t have to look far for inspiration for her second novel. “The book is set in my hometown, Shaker Heights, Ohio,” she explains. “It’s a place I loved growing up, but as I’ve gotten older and farther away from it, I realized it was not the typical suburb I always thought it was.”

Shaker Heights is something of a residential utopia: a racially diverse suburb known for its placid, treelined streets and excellent schools. But as Ng’s characters— the Richardson family and their tenants, an artist and her daughter—learn, complicated emotions often roil below the surface of even the most progressive, laid­-back communities.

When a white couple in town tries to adopt a Chinese-American baby, the child’s mother sues for custody, and the ensuing debate pits Shaker Heights’ residents against one another. “I don’t think these are questions that have easy answers,” Ng says. “I wanted to write a book in which there was not a hero and there wasn’t really a villain.” Pre-order it here. (Sept. 12)