The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King (4th Estate, £16.99)
Monica, a talented coder in present-day America, worries about her beloved grandparents, now in their 90s. She decides to track down her grandmother Yun’s long-lost cousin Meng, who remained in China after Yun emigrated. Once close, the two women were divided by political history, like so many Chinese families in the mid-20th century. Monica is puzzled when her attempt to connect with Meng results only in the gift of a single wooden pencil, but Yun understands. Before it is too late, she must tell her story – and reveal to Monica the secret power possessed by the women of the family, once used to reclaim the words written with the pencils their company sold in wartime Shanghai. The gift brought hardship and heartbreak, the shame of being forced by government officials to betray the secrets of people who bought their pencils, but also chances to preserve precious letters and poems that would otherwise have been lost. This unusual idea provides the single shining thread of fantasy illuminating an absorbing family saga interwoven with reflections on the power of stories, and who has the right to decide what is preserved or permitted to remain secret.