In China there is a belief that people who are destined to be together are connected by an invisible red thread. After losing her infant daughter in a freak accident, Maya Lange opens the Red Thread, an adoption agency that specializes in placing baby girls from China with American families. Maya finds some comfort in her work, until a group of six couples share their personal stories of desire for a child. Their painful and courageous journey toward adoption forces Maya to confront the lost daughter of her past.

Brilliantly braiding together the stories of Chinese mothers who must give up their daughters with stories of the modern American women who yearn for a child of their own, Ann Hood writes a moving and beautifully told novel of the red thread of fate that binds these characters' lives. Heartrending and wise, The Red Thread is an unforgettable portrait of the incomparable power of a mother's love.