Angie Kim is so smart and it shows in this novel. What would you do if your non-speaking child was accused of murder? That is the central question of the book. Alongside it are themes of loss, grief, cognition and cognitive distortions, disability rights and justice, and complicated family dynamics. Throughout the novel we are also posed with the question of what is happiness and how can happiness be measured, if at all? This book has so many layers and is quite cerebral and slow moving. It's a wonderful character study and it certainly changed my perspective on what it means to be "non-speaking" versus "non-verbal." A must read if you're a student of psychology.