published as Central Plains (CN) and China Story (TW)
A son who wants to kill his father, who wants kill his wife, who wants to kill her only son: the eye-popping new novel from China’s ‘foremost literary satirist’ (Financial Times) is full of surprises and home truths.
A family live in a provincial town. The son dreams of going to America, while his father obsesses over building a new house in the face of abject poverty. His long-suffering mother worries about her only child’s fraudulent use of his college money and the disgrace he causes the family by getting arrested. They are also all thinking about killing each other.
The whole presents a reflection on the nature of contemporary families. The narrator listening to the stories seems uncertain about their authenticity, blurring the boundary between truth and fiction. What will it take for the three to reconcile?
Set against the turbulent backdrop of social and cultural transformation, we witness a working-class family undone by desperation and desire. In his darkly comic voice, Yan Lianke explores the push and pull of money, modernity, familial strife and the decay of tradition – and the lengths to which people will go as they strive for a better life.
‘China’s foremost living satirist.’ Financial Times
‘His talent cannot be ignored.’ New York Times
Sales
- Flower City Literary Journal China
- Ryefield Press Taiwan
- Kawade Shobo Japan
- Grove Atlantic USA
- Chatto & Windus UK
- Text Australia
Material: Chinese text, Japanese edition