I am not usually a fan of short stories but this collection pulled me in with the first in the series (“Lulu”). I assumed that all of the stories would be connected by an underlying character or narrative thread but they all take place in different worlds with China as the uniting factor. Some stories incorporate this theme with more subtlety than others, like “Beautiful Country”.
A few stories are quite sinister which I did not expect and quite liked. Overall, my favorite of the bunch was “New Fruit” as it reminded me of a modern fairy tale (in the traditional sense of delivering a lesson). I would love to read a full length novel by this author— she is excellent at character building even within the few pages of short story. Readers with no knowledge of recent Chinese history may find themself Googling some references like I was but it was worth it to understand the context.
A few stories are quite sinister which I did not expect and quite liked. Overall, my favorite of the bunch was “New Fruit” as it reminded me of a modern fairy tale (in the traditional sense of delivering a lesson). I would love to read a full length novel by this author— she is excellent at character building even within the few pages of short story. Readers with no knowledge of recent Chinese history may find themself Googling some references like I was but it was worth it to understand the context.