A map of loss
14.99 €
Out of stock
A map of loss
14.99 €
An epic debut novel set against the backdrop of a changing China after the Cultural Revolution. A novel about dreams and lives that are left behind.
Yitian has been living in America for nearly a decade when his mother informs him over the phone that his father has left their village home and has not returned. Even though Yitian has not seen his father in all these years and they parted without forgiving each other for what happened many years ago, he decides to return to China. Finding himself in his native and already so foreign lands, Yitian tries to reconstruct the events of the past and at the same time to understand the bureaucracy of China, which is impenetrable for an alien. The evasiveness with which his mother behaves only aggravates the situation with the search. There is only one way out: to seek help from the only person who once understood him. Hanwen is a city girl, born and raised in Shanghai, who dreamed of going to university and studying to be an engineer, but like all graduates of city schools, she was "assigned" to the countryside, where former schoolchildren are supposed to raise China's agriculture. There she meets Yitian, so different from the rest of the village boys, who secretly reads books and dreams of getting an education that is beyond his reach. Years later, Yitian is teaching at an American university, and Hanwen is a socialite, the wife of a high-ranking Chinese official. Meeting years later, they set out to find the missing old man, delving into the past - their own and the country's. "Map of Loss" is a subtle novel about family, forgiveness, trying to change fate, and what true home is.
Yitian has been living in America for nearly a decade when his mother informs him over the phone that his father has left their village home and has not returned. Even though Yitian has not seen his father in all these years and they parted without forgiving each other for what happened many years ago, he decides to return to China. Finding himself in his native and already so foreign lands, Yitian tries to reconstruct the events of the past and at the same time to understand the bureaucracy of China, which is impenetrable for an alien. The evasiveness with which his mother behaves only aggravates the situation with the search. There is only one way out: to seek help from the only person who once understood him. Hanwen is a city girl, born and raised in Shanghai, who dreamed of going to university and studying to be an engineer, but like all graduates of city schools, she was "assigned" to the countryside, where former schoolchildren are supposed to raise China's agriculture. There she meets Yitian, so different from the rest of the village boys, who secretly reads books and dreams of getting an education that is beyond his reach. Years later, Yitian is teaching at an American university, and Hanwen is a socialite, the wife of a high-ranking Chinese official. Meeting years later, they set out to find the missing old man, delving into the past - their own and the country's. "Map of Loss" is a subtle novel about family, forgiveness, trying to change fate, and what true home is.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author