Braised Pork
Published on 4. February 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-5291-1216-0 (ISBN)
Description
The dreamlike story of a young woman in contemporary Beijing forging a different life for herself, from one of our brightest new literary stars.
One morning in autumn, just after breakfast, Jia Jia finds her husband dead in the bathtub of their Beijing apartment.
Next to him is a piece of folded paper, a sketch of a strange creature from his dream. He has left her no other sign. Young, alone, and with many unanswered questions, Jia Jia sets out on a journey. It takes her deep into her past where, for the very first time, she begins to have a sense of her future.
'Startlingly original... A portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free' Guardian
'Rich and wild...it gets under your skin' Observer
'An Yu writes with style and in a way that is hard to resist' Sunday Times
'A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope' Daily Mail
One morning in autumn, just after breakfast, Jia Jia finds her husband dead in the bathtub of their Beijing apartment.
Next to him is a piece of folded paper, a sketch of a strange creature from his dream. He has left her no other sign. Young, alone, and with many unanswered questions, Jia Jia sets out on a journey. It takes her deep into her past where, for the very first time, she begins to have a sense of her future.
'Startlingly original... A portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free' Guardian
'Rich and wild...it gets under your skin' Observer
'An Yu writes with style and in a way that is hard to resist' Sunday Times
'A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope' Daily Mail
Reviews / Votes
An elegant, dreamlike tale of a woman's self-realisation in contemporary Beijing. Yu's writing has an arresting, unadorned lyricism * Daily Telegraph * A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope that moves from high-rise Beijing to rural Tibet and the mysterious, magical 'world of water' -- Fanny Blake * Daily Mail * A startlingly original imagination... Braised Pork is a sensitive portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free * Guardian * Rich and strange ... Braised Pork is a debut that gets under your skin -- Anthony Cummins * Observer * Braised Pork is mesmerising, incisive and utterly disarming. An Yu writes beautifully about loneliness, the experience of isolation - from others, from one's own past - and the possibility of human connection, however fragile. * Rosie Price * So elegant and poised, so tuned to the great mysteries of love and loss. Like a breeze on a still day, An Yu's is a voice I didn't know I needed until I felt it. Braised Pork is a major debut * John Freeman * Bold yet understated, Braised Pork is the debut of a supremely confident and gifted writer. * Katie Kitamura * What a singular, slippery, transfixing novel this is. An Yu achieves a hypnotizing emotional clarity as she takes her narrator ever further from a stifling life in Beijing into a watery realm unlike any I've read before. * Idra Novey * Yu's novel has a cool, poised elegance that only adds to its enigmatic allure * Economist * A dizzying read... An Yu writes with style and in a way that is hard to resist -- Lucy Knight * Sunday Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 200 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
195 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5291-1216-0 (9781529112160)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
An Yu was born and raised in Beijing. She left at the age of eighteen to study in New York City. A graduate of the NYU MFA in Creative Writing, she writes her fiction in English and lives in Hong Kong. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Braised Pork and Ghost Music.