Pages As Planes: China
After I read These Violent Delights earlier this year, I’ve been inspired to find more books set in China across all genres. I had so much fun putting this together for a new Pages As Planes. Even as vaccination rates increase, I am going to stick with these series. It’s always been fun for me to do and allows me to think outside the box for my reading. I tend to know what I like (New England or Woodsy settings like the mountains and Alaska) so focusing on other parts of the world is good for my creativity!
Some of these books are fantasy, contemporary, classics. Some take place in China or Hong Kong, are written by Chinese writers, Chinese American writers, or Chinese born writers who grew up around the world, like New Zealand, Great Britain and Singapore. I hope you enjoy this list and find some new recommendations to take you on a trip in your imagination!
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong—The atmosphere of this book was so rich! It’s a reimagined Romeo & Juliet retelling set in 1920’s China. It’s an urban fantasy that will pull you right into the story. The sequel is out in November!
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang—Another fantasy! I haven’t read this one, but I’ve heard it is quite graphic.
“When Rin aced the Keju--the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies--it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn't believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin's guardians, who believed they'd finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard--the most elite military school in Nikan--was even more surprising.
But surprises aren't always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power--an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive--and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin's shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.”
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck—I read this book in high school when it was required reading, but I remember being completely enthralled with the story telling. The characters left an indelible mark on my heart.
*This author is white. As a daughter of missionaries, spent most of her early life in China.
“Travel to 1920s China, a time when the last emperor still ruled and the sweeping changes of the twentieth century were distant rumblings, with this timeless, evocative classic tale of the honest farmer Wang Lung and his family as they struggle to survive in the midst of vast political and social upheavals. Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl S. Buck traces the whole cycle of life: its terrors, its passions, its ambitions, and rewards. "A comment upon the meaning and tragedy of life as it is lived in any age in any quarter of the globe" (The New York Times), this brilliant novel--beloved by millions--is a universal tale of an ordinary family caught in the tide of history.”
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See—A classic I haven’t read but came highly recommended!
“In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu ("women's writing"). Some girls were paired with laotongs, "old sames," in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become "old sames" at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.”
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan—Another I haven’t read but seems to be extremely beloved!
“Amy Tan's beloved, New York Times bestselling tale of mothers and daughters.
Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who's saying the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. To despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable. Forty years later the stories and history continue.” —From the publisher
The Dark Road by Ma Jian—I think I’ll be adding this to one to my TBR asap!
“Far away from the Chinese economic miracle, from the bright lights of Beijing and Shanghai, is a vast rural hinterland, where life goes on much as it has for generations, with one extraordinary difference: "normal" parents are permitted by the state to have only a single child. Written while Ma Jian traveled the rural backwaters of southwestern China, The Dark Road is the story of one such family, who makes the radical choice to defy the crackdown. A haunting and indelible portrait of the tragedies befalling women and families at the hands of China's one-child policy and of the human spirit's capacity to endure even the most brutal cruelty, The Dark Road is also a celebration of life, and of the fierce beauty born of courageous resistance to injustice.” —From the publisher
Lotus by Lijia Zhang—This book is inspired by the author’s own grandmother’s secret life. It was highly praised after it’s publication in 2017!
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan—In the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, this book was my favorite! Rachel and Nick head to China where she meets her father. There is more drama, more glamour, and lots of wild situations the characters are put through. I flew through it!
Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang—This series of short stories was lost for a long time but was rediscovered and translated into English.
“"Eileen Chang is one of the great writers of twentieth-century China, where she enjoys a passionate following both on the mainland and in Taiwan. At the heart of Chang's achievement is her short fiction--tales of love, longing, and the shifting and endlessly treacherous shoals of family life. Written when Chang was still in her twenties, these extraordinary stories combine an unsettled, probing, utterly contemporary sensibility, keenly alert to sexual politics and psychological ambiguity, with an intense lyricism that echoes the classics of Chinese literature. Love in a Fallen City, the first collection in English of this dazzling body of work, introduces American readers to the stark and glamorous vision of a modern master.” —From the publisher
Severance by Ling Ma—I have wanted to read this book since it came on my radar February 2020 but by then, I wasn’t sure I was ready to read a pandemic centered book. Now that things are calming down, I think I’m ready!
“Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. With the recent passing of her Chinese immigrant parents, she's had her fill of uncertainty. She's content just to carry on: She goes to work, troubleshoots the teen-targeted Gemstone Bible, watches movies in a Greenpoint basement with her boyfriend. So Candace barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York. Then Shen Fever spreads. Families flee. Companies cease operations. The subways screech to a halt. Her bosses enlist her as part of a dwindling skeleton crew with a big end-date payoff. Soon entirely alone, still unfevered, she photographs the eerie, abandoned city as the anonymous blogger NY Ghost. Candace won't be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They're traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?” —From the publisher
Do you have any other favorites I missed? Let me know where we should fly off to next!