Sunbirth

Yu (Ghost Music) delivers an arresting story of two sisters grappling with their past as the gradual disappearance of the sun throws their town into chaos. The unnamed narrator, a young woman who has inherited her family’s pharmacy, witnesses a phenomenon that will soon spread through her village of Five Poems Lake: as the sun is set to lose its final sliver, certain people’s heads are inexplicably turned into small suns. The events cause rioting and fears of the apocalypse in the historically isolated area, from which no one who has left has ever been known to return. Twelve years earlier, the narrator’s policeman father disappeared and is presumed dead. Now, after the narrator discovers a possible link between his death and the sun-head people, she and her sister investigate what happened. Coupled with flashbacks from the father’s perspective in the days leading up to his disappearance, the narrative dives into the painful issue of family secrets, exploring questions of whether they should be exposed or remain buried. The pacing flags at times, due to the narrator’s lengthy bouts of introspection, but a keen sense of the sisters’ bond shines through. This confirms Yu’s mastery of the mesmerizing and strange. Agent: Anna Webber, A.M. Heath. (Aug.)