早安美國讀書俱樂部選書
　　一通來自多年前出養的女兒打來的電話，將帶來天翻地覆的轉變⋯⋯
 
　　35歲的Mika Suzuki剛經歷了一段失敗的感情，還被公司解雇。她的人生抉擇總是讓傳統的父母失望，最近還發現，她的室友兼閨蜜似乎是個強迫囤積狂。Mika的生活到目前為止，可謂是一團糟。
 
　　就在這個人生的最低點時，Mika竟接到了來自Penny的一通電話。16年前她生下了Penny，卻放棄養育權，將她交給遠在俄亥俄州的白人家庭撫養。而Penny養母近期過世，讓她決定回頭與生母Mika重新建立關係。為了讓Penny能夠對自己這個生母感到驕傲，Mika開始編排自己如夢似幻的人生。一開始這無傷大雅的小謊，卻像滾雪球般，漸漸變成了一整個虛假的世界，在這個世界裡，Mika是位成熟且成功的女性。雖然Mika描述的是虛構的生活，她分享給Penny的內心世界—關於自己的夢想、缺失、家族背景等，卻又真實不已。除此之外，Mika也開始與Penny的養父Thomas接觸，從一開始不和睦的關係，漸漸變得親密，甚至跨越了朋友那條界線。一切關係的轉變，逼迫Mika不得不回頭面對真實與虛構之間的差距，她的原生家庭、過去和現在，究竟現實中的Mika到底是誰呢？

(文／博客來外文館)

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

In this brilliant new novel from Emiko Jean, the author of the New York Times bestselling young adult novel Tokyo Ever After, comes a whip-smart, laugh-out-loud funny, and utterly heartwarming novel about motherhood, daughterhood, and love--how we find it, keep it, and how it always returns.

One phone call changes everything.

At thirty-five, Mika Suzuki’s life is a mess. Her last relationship ended in flames. Her roommate-slash-best friend might be a hoarder. She’s a perpetual disappointment to her traditional Japanese parents. And, most recently, she’s been fired from her latest dead-end job.

Mika is at her lowest point when she receives a phone call from Penny--the daughter she placed for adoption sixteen years ago. Penny is determined to forge a relationship with her birth mother, and in turn, Mika longs to be someone Penny is proud of. Faced with her own inadequacies, Mika embellishes a fact about her life. What starts as a tiny white lie slowly snowballs into a fully-fledged fake life, one where Mika is mature, put-together, successful in love and her career.

The details of Mika’s life might be an illusion, but everything she shares with curious, headstrong Penny is real: her hopes, dreams, flaws, and Japanese heritage. The harder-won heart belongs to Thomas Calvin, Penny’s adoptive widower father. What starts as a rocky, contentious relationship slowly blossoms into a friendship and, over time, something more. But can Mika really have it all--love, her daughter, the life she’s always wanted? Or will Mika’s deceptions ultimately catch up to her? In the end, Mika must face the truth--about herself, her family, and her past--and answer the question, just who is Mika in real life?

Perfect for fans of Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age, Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and Rebecca Serle’s In Five Years, Mika in Real Life is at once a heart-wrenching and uplifting novel that explores the weight of silence, the secrets we keep, and what it means to be a mother.