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Title details for Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen - Wait list

Tiananmen Square

'Extraordinary' William Boyd

by Lai Wen
ebook
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Wait time: About 4 weeks
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0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 4 weeks
'An extraordinary book. Truly important' William Boyd 'Outstanding ... Intimate as well as epic' Sunday Times 'Poignant and powerful' Daily Mail 'Utterly gripping' The Spectator 'Beautiful and devastating' Irish News Sunday Times Best Summer Reads 2024 Longlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2025 A stunning, deeply moving novel about growing up in Beijing in the 1970s and 80s and taking part in Tiananmen Square protests It is Beijing in the 1970s, and Lai lives with her parents, grandmother and younger brother in a small flat in a working-class area. Her grandmother is a formidable figure – no-nonsense and uncompromising, but loving towards her granddaughter – while her ageing beauty of a mother snipes at her father, a sunken figure who has taken refuge in his work. As she grows up, Lai comes to discern the realities of the country she lives is: an early encounter with the police haunts her for years; her father makes her see that his quietness is a reaction to experiences he has lived through; and an old bookseller subtly introduces her to ideas and novels that open her mind to different perspectives. But she also goes through what anyone goes through when young – the ebbs and flows of friendships; troubles and rewards at home and at school; and the first steps and missteps in love. A gifted student, she is eventually given a scholarship to study at the prestigious Peking University; while there she meets new friends, and starts to get involved in the student protests that have been gathering speed. It is the late 1980s, and change is in the air... A truly remarkable novel about coming to see the world as it is, Tiananmen Square is the story of one girl's life growing up in the China of the 1970s and 80s, as well as the story of the events in 1989 that give the novel its name: the hope and idealism of a generation of young students, their heroism and courage, and the price that some of them paid. 5 STAR READER REVIEWS 'Captivating, intimate and so moving, I finished it in tears' 'Wow! This was a stunning novel' 'Probably one of the most memorable, poignant, emotional books I've ever read ... This will crawl for a while under my skin. Can I give a 6th star?' 'A brilliant and important read' 'Beautifully written. I read it slowly as I wanted to savour every word' 'There is something so deeply touching, tender yet powerful in the writing ... This coming-of-age story is compelling, haunting, emotive and written beautifully. By the end, it left me in tears. It is a book I will long remember'

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 4, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781800753471

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781800753471
      • File size: 1296 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 22, 2024
      The pseudonymous Wen debuts with a piercing coming-of-age novel based on her experiences growing up in China and her involvement in the 1989 student demonstrations against the government. Born in 1970, Lai struggles for acceptance from her parents, who wished for a son. Her father, a cartographer, remains scarred by the “fear and uncertainty” of life under Maoism, while her mother refuses to acknowledge that the leaders of the Cultural Revolution were anything but fair. During high school, an elderly bookseller allows Lai to borrow titles by freethinking writers like Camus, Orwell, and Sartre, and she receives a scholarship to attend Peking University. There, Lai comes into her own, linking up with a subversive theater troupe that will end up playing a key role in the Tiananmen Square standoff. Wen generates suspense and pathos in the buildup to the demonstration, even though its tragic outcome is well-known, and she offers keen psychological insights into how Lei’s fraught relationship with her parents spurred her to seek her own path. Wen brings the past to life in this deeply personal narrative.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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