Counterfeit

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

“A con artist story, a pop-feminist caper, a fashionable romp . . . Counterfeit is an entertaining, luxurious read—but beneath its glitz and flash, it is also a shrewd deconstruction of the American dream and the myth of the model minority. . . . Chen is up to something innovative and subversive here." — Camille Perri, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Recommended by New York Times Book Review • Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • USA Today • Time • Cosmopolitan • Today show • Harper’s Bazaar • Vogue • Good Housekeeping • Parade • New York Post • Town & Country • GMA.com • Buzzfeed • Goodreads • Oprah Daily • Popsugar • Bustle • theSkimm • The Millions • and more!

For fans ofHustlersandHow to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, thestoryoftwoAsian American womenwho band together togrowa counterfeit handbag scheme into a global enterprise—an incisive andglitteringblend offashion, crime,andfriendshipfrom the author ofBury What We Cannot TakeandSoy Sauce for Beginners.

Money can’t buy happiness… but it can buy a decent fake.

Ava Wonghas always played it safe.As a strait-laced,rule-abidingChinese American lawyer with asuccessfulsurgeonas ahusband,ayoung son,andabeautiful home—she’s built theperfectlife. Butbeneath thisfaçade,Ava’s world iscrumbling: her marriage isfalling apart,herexpensivelawdegreehasn’t been usedinyears, andhertoddler’s tantrums are pushing her to the breaking point.

Enter Winnie Fang, Ava’s enigmatic college roommate from Mainland China,whoabruptlydropped out under mysterious circumstances.Now, twenty years later,Winnie islooking to reconnectwith her old friend. But the shy, awkward girl Avaonce knewhas been replaced with a confident woman of the world, dripping in luxury goods, including a coveted Birkin in classic orange.The secret to her success?Winnie has developed an ingenious counterfeit schemethat involves importing near-exact replicas of luxuryhandbags and now she needs someone with a U.S. passport tohelp manageher business—someone who’d never be suspected of wrongdoing, someone like Ava.Butwhen their spectacular success is threatened and Winnie vanishesonce again,Avais left to face the consequences.

Swift, surprising,andsharplycomic,Counterfeitisastylish and feminist caperwith a strong point of view and an axe to grind. Peering behind the curtain of the upscale designer storefronts and the Chinese factories where luxury goods are produced, Kirstin Chen interrogates the myth of the model minority through two unforgettable women determined to demand more from life.

"If you appreciate a good caper, you’ll want to pick up Kirstin Chen’s novel . . . Fast-paced and fun, with smart commentary on the cultural differences between Asia and America." — TIME

“Propulsive and captivating . . . A provocative story of fashion, friendship, and fakes (in more ways than one).” — VOGUE