Thank you to the publisher, Little, Brown & Co. for an advance copy of this amazing novel. This was my first Jennifer Haigh novel, and I'm already eager to consume her backlist. How have I missed out all these years?

Rabbit Moon is a story about family - Aaron, Claire, and their daughters Lindsey and Grace. Claire and Aaron are divorced. Lindsey, their tall red-haired daughter, dropped out of Wesleyan and, long fascinated by the country, moved to China to teach English. Grace, who was adopted as an infant from China, is 10 years younger than Lindsey. Lindsey is hit by a car in the first few pages of the story. Early one morning, a groggy Claire receives a call from the United States Consulate in Shanghai with the news that her daughter has been gravely injured and is in the hospital. Shocked and confused (Lindsey was supposed to be teaching English in Beijing) Claire is on a flight to China as quickly as possible. She meets Aaron there, and together they navigate a land that is very foreign, and a daughter it seems they hardly knew at all.

Rabbit Moon - while about a broken family on a macro level - does a brilliant job of demonstrating the devastation caused by failure of communication. When Aaron and Claire receive the life-altering news of their daughter's accident, neither can remember the last real conversation they had with her, nor had either of them seen her since she left for China two years prior. Lindsey's closest friend in Shanghai, Jun (Johnny) Du, unable to tell his family he's gay, lies to them every Sunday about his 'girlfriend" Lin. Grace, though "100% Han Chinese" was adopted by Aaron and Claire at 7 months old, and doesn't know a word of Mandarin. As an adult, as she looks at pictures of Lindsey, she studies a tattoo on Lindsey's shoulder. It's a Mandarin character, and Grace needs a friend to translate for her. It's Grace. Taken aback, Grace things, "I should have been able to recognize myself."

The story comes full circle in the end, though perhaps with once coincidence too many. I enjoyed this book immensely, and I'll happily recommend it to anyone who asks.

Pre-Read notes

I was offered a widget of this one. I liked the premise, so I grabbed it. The cover drew me in as well. I am reading and enjoying a few different stories about decolonization, an important theme that makes good stories.

Final Review

The little boy was a preexisting condition; Shen had made him with another woman without knowing there was a Lindsey in the world. But for him to have a second child with his wife would be an unspeakable betrayal, an anguish too terrible to bear. p113

Review summary and recommendations

Sun’s grandmother is dead now, his wife, his parents . He has no children or grandchildren. He is a human island, unconnected to any living person on Earth. p164

Reading Notes

Three things I loved:

1. Without his glasses, he looked younger and gentler, curiously undefended. It was more intimate, in a way, than seeing him naked. p112 One of the hardest things to write in fiction is vulnerability. Here and elsewhere, Haigh masterfully describes that subtle drive possessed by every creature--measuring the risk implicit in everything we to, to one degree or another.

2. This book builds to an incredibly tense and suspenseful second act, leveraging a timeline that is just experimental enough, insightful character development, and a compelling storyline about how our choices and actions can pigeonhole us into the tiny boxes in other people's minds.

3. She had never smoked a cigarette in her life. Meanwhile, Sun, who has smoked since age ten, is in perfect health. It’s a diabolical punishment, a fate worse than cancer, to have caused the death of the woman he loved. Thinking of it fills him with despair, which makes him want to smoke. Since her death, it is his only consolation. p163 This book is full of this wonderful, heartbreaking irony.

One thing I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. I don't usually go for oscillating timelines, but I find this captivating. One reason why it is successful is because the transitions from one section to another are clean and the storyline remains logical.

Rating: 🐇🐇🐇🐇 /5 rabbits
Recommend? yes
Finished: Mar 10 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🙃 irony
👩🏻‍🤝‍👩🏼 sister stories
👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 family drama
🪢 experimental form

Thank you to the author Jennifer Haigh, publishers Little, Brown, & Co., and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of RABBIT MOON. All views are mine.
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Lindsey Litvak’s parents get a call notifying them that Lindsey has been hit by a car and is in a coma. They know nothing of her life in China, as she only speaks with her adopted sister, Grace, since she moved abroad. As pieces of her life in China is revealed, they realize they knew even less than they thought.

This was my favorite book of Jennifer Haigh’s yet. It’s a new adult story incorporating a lot of culture and nuances of coming of age in a culture different than your own. I loved how we are looking backwards into what happened before the accident and learning as we go. I also loved how every character had different information and took away a different version of the story. That for me was piece de resistance because it was so true to life and not wrapped up neatly like a lot of literature is. Lindsey and Grace are both such unique characters, and very different from each other. This is a book you’ll want to take your time with and truly absorb.

“We live at the intersection of causality and chance.”

Rabbit Moon comes out 4/1.

I know this book has gotten alot of pre release press and I was really looking forward to diving in. Although I enjoyed the writing, overall, not so sure I would recommend it. A bit slow a bit off but I wish you the best with the book.

This is my second book by Jennifer Haigh after having enjoyed The Condition. In Rabbit Moon we meet Lindsey, a young American woman who has had more life experience than her age, living in Shanghai. Her divorced parents are called to Shanghai after learning that their daughter has been in a terrible hit and run accident. They had thought she was teaching English in Beijing and will spend some of their time trying to learn what their daughter has been up to. The only one who knows a little more is her little sister, by ten years, Grace. While the reader waits to find out if Lindsey will come out of a coma, we are provided with Lindsey’s accounting of the past year interspersed with her parents’ viewpoint from Shanghai.

I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and found the writing and pacing spot on. There were many interesting characters to get to know. While I love a good character, it perhaps was a small flaw as the focus grabbing took away from the story. There is some historical context and a bit of mystery to add interest. The viewpoints, and the final part of the book, that takes place in 2031, didn’t feel like the author was trying to make too much commentary about the time other than how the past appears which I appreciated.

Our present is informed by our past; because of this I would have liked a little more depth from part of Lindsey’s storyline. She is told by a woman that the people she works with are just like Lindsey. Lindsey says something along the lines of ‘without knowing anything about me, including my history, this woman knew exactly what I was.’ I’m not sure I understand this statement fully after reading the book. It could be taken to mean a few different things and maybe that is the point but I feel like a paragraph was missing in the narrative.

We get some detail on how a young Grace views her sister and her parents and a little bit about her as an adult but given the many references to the Cultural Revolution/interracial adoption, I was expecting the story to include more of her storyline.

Thank you to @netgalley and @littlebrown for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinions. Rabbit Moon publishes April 1, 2025.

Jennifer Haigh understands how to suss out a story behind cultural movements and moments, the topography of landscapes and of capitalism, con men and con women, families and communities fizzing apart, and always, the misconceptions of love. She is confident throughout and such a chillingly skilled storyteller that you will follow her anywhere even when you know she is leading you off a cliff, or into the wilds, or speeding toward the center of a doomed enterprise. Rabbit Moon opens in Shanghai when Lindsey Litvak, a striking American girl in her early 20s, gets struck in a hit and run accident. Her phone is gone and she is in a coma. Her divorced parents, Claire and Aaron, who think she is in Beijing teaching English, rush overseas to the hospital; her beloved much younger sister Grace, a Chinese adoptee, is in a Quaker summer camp and is kept in the dark about Lindsey’s situation. But Claire and Aaron are also in the dark about their beautiful daughter’s mysterious life and the plot deftly pivots between flashbacks and clues to this, as well the unraveling of their marriage, the skewering of faith, and the small misunderstood moments and that define a friendship, an affair, a family relationship, and a sense of self. Haigh writes so well: Lindsey’s story is told in fragments that only coalesce toward the end, when a fully grown Grace takes over the narration. There is abundant beauty and sadness here, frequently transformative, in the narration and the power of the wide range of characters spinning out from their timelines. It is something that lingers and grows, long after the book is finished. Haigh does not shy away from big issues: the ethics of adopting babies from other cultures, postpartum alienation, and the mechanisms and long-term repercussions of sexual predators, and the staggering fragility of life.

After a 20 year old American girl is struck by car in Shanghai and left in a coma, the implications are far reaching for her friends and family.

Quite intrigued by the premise, I loved the implications and possibilities of where this might go. In the end, I liked it but perhaps it didn't quite achieve those highest highs I was hoping for.

It took a while to care about the characters and felt like even longer to learn anything about Lindsey. The second act, her backstory and motivation is quite well done but the other characters and the ultimate conclusion to the story is a little thin.

Pleased to have read this one and eager to check out the author's other works. Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunity to review in advance in exchange for my honest opinion.

Twenty-two year old Lindsey is struck by a drunk driver in Shanghai and lies comatose. Her parents fly to be by her bedside, unsure she will survive her head wound. Her younger sister Grace is away at summer camp and is kept in the dark about Lindsey’s condition. Young, brilliant, but deeply troubled, Lindsay has led a secret life in Shanghai, the truth of which unfolds slowly. Rabbit Moon is a portrait of a family in crisis and it tackles many issues: post-natal depression, divorce cause by crisis, the ensuing trauma of divorce, foreign adoption, sibling bonds, and sexual abuse of a minor.

Rabbit Moon is a deeply affecting novel with well formed characters and setting. Haigh has a unique ability to craft characters of depth and they broke my heart.

Highly recommend.

The story: Rabbit Moon starts with a hit-and-run: Lilly/Lindsay is living and working in Shanghai when she is hit by a car in the early morning hours. We then learn about Lindsay’s lifer — how she came to China to teach English, and her family life back at home in Newton, Massachusetts. Her parents are divorced. Her 11-year-old sister, Grace, is at camp in New Hampshire. This is a slow burn family drama with some mystery to it.

My thoughts: Haight developed the characters in this book in a way that made them jump to life. This book won’t be for everyone, but I enjoy family dramas. The change of narrator late in the book was a bit jarring on audio, but it didn’t detract from the book for me.

Fine. This felt ham-handed perfunctory. The ending was slow. Nothing ever really happens and then there’s a random coincidence. From Haigh, this was disappointing.

This is one of my favorite authors ; I have read every book written by her and looked forward to reading this new one.. I couldn't put this down and read it all in two days. The story of the Litvak family grabs you from the beginning. Mostly set in Shanghai, the story begins with the older daughter. Lindsey, who is in the hospital in Shanghai after being hit by a driver who had fled the scene. In the past, the family had adoped an infant from China (Grace) ; thus beginning Lindsey"s interest in China. Never recovering from an affair with a neighbor when she was a teenager, Lindsey finds herself at loose ends. Moving to China with her boyfriend to teach English as a second language, she begins new chapters in her life. What follows is sometimes hard to read, her lost contact with her family, especially Grace, and how her life choices affected the rest of the family going forward.
This is a fascinating book that I will recommend to book clubs and my fellow readers.

What a fantastic book! The first one I have read by this author but definitely can't wait to read more! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Highly recommend!

Rabbit Moon is a quiet yet powerful novel that explores love, identity, and the weight of the past. Jennifer Haigh’s writing is as lyrical and nuanced as ever, pulling me into the tangled lives of her characters. The story unfolds with a slow, deliberate pace, but the emotional depth kept me engaged. It’s a novel about longing and reinvention, with moments of quiet beauty that linger. Haigh once again proves she’s a master of deeply human storytelling.

What a read. This one took me a bit to get into, but once I hit about 15-20%, I couldn't put it down. This is my first read from Haigh so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was in no way disappointed.

We start with a brief snapshot of Lindsay who was sent into a coma after a hit and run. We bounce back and forth between third person POVs of Johnny, Lindsay, and her parents. It was a little difficult to follow in the beginning and some of the pacing lagged a bit toward the middle, but Haigh masterfully developed each character in almost a prose-like voice, helping the story easily flow and making it difficult to put down. I didn't expect it to be as emotional as it was.

And Grace's reflection at the end - my goodness. It was tragic and beautiful and I wanted more! Haigh did such a wonderful job at creating a riveting plotline while discussing tougher topics like race, adoption, family, divorce, and power dynamics.

"Rabbit Moon" left me with more questions and answers, and I was hoping to see more justice in Lindsay's accident, but I suppose that was the point. Life is messy and tragic and boils down to change - not everything has a clear, happy ending. Thank you so much for this ARC!

This is another winner from Jennifer Haigh. A broken American family is forced to reckon with their fracture lines. How does their past shape their present? The sisters and parents are intriguing and well-drawn characters. While this is a somewhat "quiet" literary story, I found it to be elegant and well-written.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

"Rabbit Moon" by Jennifer Haigh is a modern day family drama that deals with numerous issues, making it not only a compelling read, but a great choice for book clubs.
Twenty something Lindsey, living and working in Shanghai for an escort service, is involved in a hit and run accident on the side of the road. Her being a victim of 'the wrong place at the wrong time' brings her estranged parents rushing to Shanghai to be by her side, and to try and make sense of this senseless crime. At this point the author takes us back in time, so we can get to know Lindsey, her friends, her lovers, and family including her younger adopted sister from China.
This novel is so artfully written, so visceral in its descriptions of Shanghai and it's people; bringing to our attention how precious, yet precarious life really is. Touching on such subjects as life choices, friendship, trust, Chinese adoption, and the bond that's possible between sisters though not biological.
The pace of "Rabbit Moon" is perfect, taking an unexpected turn in the last 50 pages. Definitely one of Haigh's best!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown publishers for allowing me to be an early reader of this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

Haigh is an author I've enjoyed in the past, although her tales are always slightly tragic with a lot of character development. This novel felt a little "...why did it come to this?" as I read it. I was hoping for hopeful but it felt more hopeless. Two estranged spouses must travel to Shanghai when their 20-something daughter is a victim of a hit and run, and in a coma. This couple also adopted a child from China, so there's a lot in here about interracial adoption. This is a bit of a dark, sad tale.

This story presents a confusing family drama set against the backdrop of Shanghai, where a fractured American family is forced to confront long-buried family secrets and resentments. There were some aspects I appreciated, like the exploration of how the family's past shaped their present dynamics, but ultimately the execution was a bit underwhelming, and I had trouble fully connecting with the characters; especially our main hero, who remains distant even as her family tries to understand her life in China. While I did enjoy her younger sister, she stood out as one of the few characters with real depth, and I wished for more time with her. The emotional stakes were there, but the story lacked the intensity I was hoping for, and without it, I found myself struggling to care about our protagonist.

This book--which I quite enjoyed--is hard to review/explain since my only real criticism is that it is somewhat all over the place.

The Litvaks--Claire [a frustrated writer] and Aaron [a successful businessman] are divorced and living in Massachusetts. Their oldest daughter, Lindsey [now 25?], a tall, beautiful redhead [a novelty in China] is thought to be in Beijing, teaching English--since dropping out of college. Grace, their 11 year-old daughter, adopted from China as an infant, with whom Lindsay has a fierce bond is at a Quaker sleep away camp wondering why her sister hasn't texted her. A phone call--telling the Litvaks that Lindsay has been critically injured in a hit-and run and is in a coma in a hopsital--in Shanghai sends them rushing over to assess the situation. Johnny Du, Lindsay's gay hairdresser friend who hides his reality from his parents. These are some of the characters in the book; there are others who occupy more than a brief role.

"We live at the intersection of causality and chance"--and so it begins [though this sentence is near the end of the book].

Family. Post-partum depression. The devolution of a marriage--before and after. Flawed characters. Sexual abuse/predators. Mothers and daughters, Deceptions. Secrets. The Cultural Revolution. Shanghai itself [as a character]--and so much more!

Lindsay--very bad at relationships with men and parents. Only solid tie is with Grace. And, no [real] spoiler, but in Shanghai, Lindsay becomes a high-priced companion/call girl; this storyline was quite interesting.

Some good descriptions:
Claire--in Shanghai: "What an asshole I married. The realization brings her no satisfaction, no pleasure. If she married this asshole, what does that make her?”
"My adoptive family--and blond and two rehdeads--were congenitally pale, power users of high-SPR suncreens."
"...followed the conversation like a tennis match, my head pivoting from side to side."

The last part of the book--fast forward to 2031--took me by surprise. Here we find out much more about Lindsay, Grace and Claire and Aaron. And for the Grace, what it's like to be an adopted Chinese-American.

I've liked Jennifer Haigh since I read Mrs, Kimble in 2003 so was looking forwawrd to this book. 4.25. Recommend [but likely not for everyone].

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this mesmerizing eARC.

In Jennifer Haigh's "Rabbit Moon," the reader is immediately drawn into a world of complex relationships and emotional turmoil. The story centers around a family grappling with the aftermath of a tragic accident in Shanghai, where their daughter, Lindsey, is critically injured. Haigh's masterful storytelling weaves together the past and present, revealing the intricate dynamics between the relationships in this story.

The novel's strength lies in its exploration of the themes of family, love, loss, and the enduring power of connection. Haigh's characters are flawed and relatable, each with their own struggles and vulnerabilities. As the story unfolds, their lives intertwine, revealing the depths of their relationships and the unspoken truths that bind them together.

Haigh's writing is lyrical and poignant, painting a vivid picture of Shanghai and its people. The reader is transported to the bustling streets and ancient alleyways, immersing themselves in the sights, sounds, and smells of this vibrant metropolis

"Rabbit Moon" is a beautiful love story to family relationships and Haigh's ability to create complex characters and explore universal themes makes this book a must-read for anyone who appreciates a story that is emotionally resonant and intellectually stimulating.

I found it a beautifully written story, it is no small wonder the author is a multiple award winning writer.

Additionally, the issue of China's female infants coming into their own identity after adoption by loving families so far from their birth land resonated deeply with me.