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Severance

Page 27

by Ling Ma


  The MFA program at Cornell University provided the funding and resources that allowed me to finish this novel. Thank you in particular to J. Robert Lennon, Stephanie Vaughn, and Helena Viramontes. And much praise to the English administration office for their organizational prowess.

  Thank you for your kindness and generosity: Melody Flahart, Lee Froehlich, Isabelle Gilbert, Baird Harper, Jacob Knabb, Elizabeth Merrick, Katie Moore, Hajara Quinn, Kirsten Saracini. Ed Park, thank you for letting me steal NY Ghost (RIP the NewYork Ghost)!

  My family relieved me from the immigrant pressures of traditional success. I am grateful for their love and unreasonable acceptance.

  Finally, thank you to Valer Popa, who has been swimming alongside me all this time.

  A Note About the Author

  Ling Ma was born in Sanming, China, and grew up in Utah, Nebraska, and Kansas. She attended the University of Chicago and received an MFA from Cornell University. Prior to graduate school she worked as a journalist and an editor. Her writing has appeared in Granta, VICE, Playboy, Chicago Reader, Ninth Letter, and other publications. A chapter of Severance received the 2015 Graywolf SLS Prize. She lives in Chicago. You can sign up for email updates here.

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Acknowledgments

  A Note About the Author

  Copyright

  Farrar, Straus and Giroux

  175 Varick Street, New York 10014

  Copyright © 2018 by Ling Ma

  All rights reserved

  First edition, 2018

  E-book ISBN: 978-0-374-71711-7

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