We love you Crispina -- The empty the empty the empty -- Our mothers before them -- The evolution of my brother -- My days and nights of terror -- Why were they throwing bricks? -- You fell into the river and I saved you!

Centred on a community of immigrants who have traded their endangered lives as artists in China and Taiwan for the constant struggle of life at the poverty line in 1990s New York City, the seven stories that make up Sour Heart examine the many ways that family and history can weigh us down, but also lift us up. From the young woman coming to terms with her grandmother's role in the Cultural Revolution, to the daughter struggling to understand where her family ends and she begins, to the girl discovering the power of her body to inspire and destroy, these stories illuminate the complex and messy inner lives of girls struggling to define themselves.