Peach Blossom Paradise

Synopsis

In 1898, reformist intellectuals persuade the young Chinese emperor to transform his sclerotic empire into a prosperous modern state. The Hundred Days’ Reform brings a moment of extraordinary hope before a bloody military coup brings it to an abrupt end.

Against this historical upheaval, Ge Fei tells the story of Xiumi, the daughter of a wealthy landowner and former government official who disappears after falling into insanity. Soon afterward, a mysterious man carrying a gold cicada arrives at the family estate and is welcomed as a relative. He dreams of remaking China as an egalitarian utopia, but when his plans collapse, Xiumi inherits his revolutionary vision. Her struggle for freedom unfolds against a Confucian society that treats women as property, as she fights to reclaim control over her own body and future.

About the Author

Ge Fei is the pen name of Liu Yong, born in Jiangsu Province in 1964. He is one of China’s leading contemporary writers and an important figure in Chinese avant-garde fiction. His work includes The Invisibility Cloak, the Jiangnan Trilogy, and Flock of Brown Birds. He has received both the Lu Xun Literary Prize and the Mao Dun Prize for Fiction.

Canaan Morse is a translator, poet, and editor whose translations of Chinese prose and poetry have appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Baffler, and other publications. He cofounded the literary quarterly Pathlight: New Chinese Writing and also translated Ge Fei’s The Invisibility Cloak.

Publisher

New York Review Books

Publication Date

December 8, 2020

Format

Paperback

Pages

392

Subjects

Historical Fiction · Behind the Iron Curtain · Chinese Literature · Fiction in Translation · Political Fiction · Revolution · Feminist Fiction

ISBN

9781681374703