Ng's storytelling chops are downright amazing. The story is interleaved, starting near the end, a senseless event, and the rest of the story follows, making sense of the inexplicable. Along the way, we learn about Mia & Pearl, outsiders in this "perfect" community, and the Richardsons, the McCulloughs, and a desperate mother who wants her baby back. Ng shows us all of them, their best and their worst, letting the reader draw their own conclusions, though it's clear who the author favors in the outcome. Still, we are asked to feel compassion even for the villains, and know them so well, understanding how they have failed themselves and those they love, it is not so much to ask.