Memory Piece

Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng grow up in the 1980s, friends connected through a common sense of alienation and rebellion. Giselle pursues a career in performance art, beginning by spending a year in a secret room in a New Jersey mall. Ellen is a coder, creating freeware to help build the fledgling internet and hoping it will live up to its democratic promise. Ellen becomes a community activist looking to provide housing, food, and justice for the people of New York. As the decades pass, each woman is confronted with societal changes and challenges, from monetization of the internet to gentrification of working-class neighborhoods. The dystopian future of the 2040s shows a world where anything is possible—but only for the rich. Ko (The Leavers) offers a view of life from the pre-digital age to the near future, with a stark warning about what the coming years may hold. Eunice Wong’s well-modulated narration captures the intensity of teenage angst and adult disaffection, conveying the characters’ struggles to survive in a world they did not anticipate.