Little Wonder
A Novel
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected 16 Jun 2026
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- 9,99 €
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- Pre-Order
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- 9,99 €
Publisher Description
A musical prodigy and his mother spend years searching for each other in this beautiful novel of hope, perseverance, and love.
A SWEEPING NOVEL FROM JENNA BUSH HAGER’S NEW VENTURE, THOUSAND VOICES.
Song is a nobody—just a food delivery worker from a village in Northeastern China—but her son, River, is a little wonder.
At the age of four, he toddled to a piano and tapped out his favorite song. At eight, he mastered Liszt's three Liebestraume; at ten, he blazed through the complete set of Chopin's études. And at every step, through the valleys of loss, illness, and poverty, Song is there to light his way—until finally, at the age of eleven, River is invited to study with a preeminent teacher in Beijing.
But in the chaos of Beijing Railway Station on the busiest day of the year, Song faces every mother's nightmare: She loses her grip on River’s little hand and is unable to find him after a desperate, harrowing search.
Over the next days, weeks, and eventually, years, Song and River fight to forge a path back to each other as they carve out new lives that carry them farther apart. An evocative exploration of a mother’s love and a son’s yearning, Little Wonder takes us on an extraordinary journey through a modern Beijing that pulses with the music of humanity and its impossible—and impossibly brave—hopes.
As every musician knows: You start in one key. You wander to other keys, strange and distant places. But in the end, you always come back home.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The indomitable powers of music and motherhood shine through this heart-tugging novel’s mix of sweetness and suspense. Song is a single, working-class mother from a small Chinese village. Her son, River, is an 11-year-old classical piano virtuoso. They’re separated in a Beijing train station, and amid the teeming masses, they’re unable to find each other again. It’s every parent’s nightmare, but Song reacts with tireless diligence. Little Wonder alternates between timelines: in one, we see the family hardships of River’s early years play out while his gift come to light. In the other, River prospers through the kindness of others and Song searches ceaselessly while toiling as a food delivery worker, which in massive Beijing is like being a ninja. Sophie Chen Keller expertly embeds us in both worlds—we experience the dizzying turmoil of the city and get an inside view of River’s gift as he visualizes music as colour and hears everything from running water to clicking cutlery as music. Class conflicts come into play along the way, but a mother’s love is the beating heart of this emotional tale.
