Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024
A darkly glittering literary debut that traces a mixed family’s troubled trajectory through developing China.
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A mesmerising reversal of the east–west immigrant narrative set against China’s economic boom, River East, River West is a deeply moving exploration of race, identity and family, of capitalism’s false promise and private dreams.
Shanghai, 2007: feeling betrayed by her American mother’s engagement to their rich landlord Lu Fang, fourteen-year-old Alva begins plotting her escape. But the exclusive American School – a potential ticket out – is not what she imagined.
Qingdao, 1985: newlywed Lu Fang works as a lowly shipping clerk. Though he aspires to a bright future, he is one of many casualties of harsh political reforms. Then China opens up to foreigners and capital, and Lu Fang meets a woman who makes him question what he should settle for...
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* PRAISE FOR RIVER EAST, RIVER WEST *
‘A novel about reinvention. It’s original, it’s funny, and it’s sometimes heartbreaking as well’ Monica Ali, bestselling author of Love Marriage
A searing and intimate exploration of both China and the American Dream
Jean Kwok, bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee
River East, River West portrays the powerlessness of our loves against the riptides of history
Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness
Aube Rey Lescure’s portrayal of the glitter and grit of China s tumultuous economic rise is by turns luminous and searing. A haunting debut Vanessa Hua, bestselling author of Forbidden City
‘“River east, river west” comes from a famous Chinese saying, which suggests that the world or people’s destinies are always in constant change, and there is no fixed path of rise, fall, honour or disgrace. Aube Rey Lescure has represented this idea brilliantly in her novel’ Xinran, author of The Good Women of China
‘A compelling and thought-provoking coming-of-age story about identity and the narratives we create about ourselves. River East, River West offers a vivid portrait of China and the uneasy relationships of class and family history’ Catherine Cho, author of Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness
A complex and moving exploration of race, class, gender, and family... An ambitious, innovative take on both the immigrant and coming-of-age novel Kirkus Review
‘River East, River West is a beautiful novel, wise and sensitive in dealing with the entanglements of love and culture across national boundaries, and across time; and despite its vast scope, it always feels intimate. A marvellous achievement’ Tash Aw, author of Five Star Billionaire
About the Author
Aube Rey Lescure is a French-Chinese writer who grew up between Provence, northern China and Shanghai. She worked in foreign policy before turning to writing fulltime. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, Best American Essays, Litro and elsewhere. River East, River West is her debut novel.
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