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'Absorbing'GUARDIAN'Magical'GOOD HOUSEKEEPING'Suspenseful'MAIL ON SUNDAY'Wildly inventive'LIZ MOOREA REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICKIn this dazzling debut novel, a young reclusive coder unearths the story of a lost Shanghai pencil company and a legacy of magic, espionage and family secrets that will alter the path of her life forever.Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-confessed recluse, she's more comfortable navigating digital worlds than real-life friendships. The closest people in her life are her beloved grandparents who raised her.Her grandmother Yun rarely speaks about her past. Now, in her nineties, her memory is fading and with it, the answers to Monica's questions about their family's history - about her grandmother's long-lost cousin, Meng, and the years they spent working together at a mysterious pencil company back in Shanghai.With the help of Louise, a young archivist, Monica decides to track down Meng and reconnect the cousins before it is too late. Her search unearths a legacy of magic, espionage and secrets that will alter the path of Monica's life forever.'An intimate story of familial love and connection throughout the generations ... you'll be gripped'INDEPENDENT'A suspenseful family epic fueled by love and espionage'MAIL ON SUNDAY'A reminder of how family ties shape us' WOMAN & HOME'Allison King is a talent to watch'LIZ MOORE, author of The God of the Woods'A beautiful ode to the warmth of family connection' RAY NAYLER, author of The Mountain in the Sea'A stunning debut ... had me smiling through my tears'FONDA LEE, author of The Green Bone Saga

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK“The Phoenix Pencil Company is a masterful blending of history, fantasy, and romance that sank into my heart . . . This book had me smiling through my tears.” — Fonda Lee, author of the Green Bone SagaIn this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magic—of Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to life—holds the power to transform a young woman’s relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space.Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly—especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.Though Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica’s discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun’s own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil’s words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people’s stories to survive.Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of A Tale for the Time Being with the uplifting, emotional magic of The Midnight Library, Allison King’s stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy. 

'Absorbing'GUARDIAN'Magical'GOOD HOUSEKEEPING'Suspenseful'MAIL ON SUNDAY'Wildly inventive'LIZ MOOREA REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICKIn this dazzling debut novel, a young reclusive coder unearths the story of a lost Shanghai pencil company and a legacy of magic, espionage and family secrets that will alter the path of her life forever.Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-confessed recluse, she's more comfortable navigating digital worlds than real-life friendships. The closest people in her life are her beloved grandparents who raised her.Her grandmother Yun rarely speaks about her past. Now, in her nineties, her memory is fading and with it, the answers to Monica's questions about their family's history - about her grandmother's long-lost cousin, Meng, and the years they spent working together at a mysterious pencil company back in Shanghai.With the help of Louise, a young archivist, Monica decides to track down Meng and reconnect the cousins before it is too late. Her search unearths a legacy of magic, espionage and secrets that will alter the path of Monica's life forever.'An intimate story of familial love and connection throughout the generations ... you'll be gripped'INDEPENDENT'A suspenseful family epic fueled by love and espionage'MAIL ON SUNDAY'A reminder of how family ties shape us' WOMAN & HOME'Allison King is a talent to watch'LIZ MOORE, author of The God of the Woods'A beautiful ode to the warmth of family connection' RAY NAYLER, author of The Mountain in the Sea'A stunning debut ... had me smiling through my tears'FONDA LEE, author of The Green Bone Saga