Meili, a young peasant woman born in the remote heart of China, is married to Kongzi, a village school teacher, and a distant descendant of Confucius. They have a daughter, but desperate for a son to carry on his illustrious family line, Kongzi gets Meili pregnant again without waiting for official permission. When family planning officers storm the village to arrest violators of the population control policy, mother, father and daughter escape to the Yangtze River and begin a fugitive life.
For years they drift south through the poisoned waterways and ruined landscapes of China, picking up work as they go along, scavenging for necessities and flying from police detection. As Meili's body continues to be invaded by her husband and assaulted by the state, she fights to regain control of her fate and that of her unborn child.
ISBN: | 9780099572268 |
Publication date: | 24th April 2014 |
Author: | Jian Ma |
Publisher: | Vintage an imprint of Random House |
Format: | Paperback |
Pagination: | 360 pages |
Genres: |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction Far-left political ideologies and movements Political control and freedoms Narrative theme: Politics Narrative theme: Displacement, exile, migration Narrative theme: Sense of place Narrative theme: Social issues Fiction in translation Family Drama |