Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family

Isabella and Ha, identical twin girls born in Vietnam, were raised on opposite sides of the world, each having no idea that the other existed. Erika Hayasaki's deeply reported, intimate story of their journey back to one another upends common conceptions of adoption, family, and identity.

An NPR Best Book of 2022 and Winner of a Nautilus Silver Book Award

"Stirring and unforgettable-a breathtaking adoption saga like no other." -Robert Kolker, New York Times-bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road and Lost Girls

It was 1998 in Nha Trang, Vi?t Nam, and Lien struggled to care for her newborn twin girls. Ha was taken in by Lien's sister, and she grew up in a rural village with her aunt, going to school and playing outside with the neighbors. They had sporadic electricity and frequent monsoons. Ha's twin sister, Loan, was adopted by a wealthy, white American family who renamed her Isabella. Isabella grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with a nonbiological sister, Olivia, also adopted from Vi?t Nam. Isabella and Olivia attended a predominantly white Catholic school, played soccer, and prepared for college.

But when Isabella's adoptive mother learned of her biological twin back in Vi?t Nam, all of their lives changed forever. Award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki spent years and hundreds of hours interviewing each of the birth and adoptive family members. She brings the girls' experiences to life on the page, told from their own perspectives, challenging conceptions about adoption and what it means to give a child a good life.