Brilliant ... A taut, tightly structured novel, ... Digs deep despite its brevity. Tiang...preserves Zhang’s crackling dialogue ... Offer[s] much to perceptive readers.
Suspenseful and layered ... Thanks to Yueran’s astute storytelling, characters that first appear to be villains become more complex as the years of disappointment and fractured ambitions that have shaped them come to light. This gripping drama offers an intimate view into contemporary China’s class dynamics.
