Lijia Zhang: Lotus
Lotus follows a young woman torn between past traditions and modern desires - as she carves out a life for herself in Chinaβs βCity of Sinsβ.
This month ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Book Club comes from Beijing with Lawrence Pollard.
The programme is a guest of the Bookworm, three rooms and a roof terrace full of books in Chinese and English, a fixture on the literary scene here for over a decade.
Bestselling Chinese writer Lijia Zhang answers questions about her novel Lotus. Lijia taught herself English while working in a missile factory in a bid to become a writer and a journalist, and sheβs written Lotus in English. Itβs the story of a young migrant worker from the country who ends up as a prostitute in Shenzen, the economic powerhouse of Southern China. Itβs also a deeply researched picture of the people who look up at the economic miracle from beneath and their struggles for dignity, love and a future they can believe in.
(Image: Lijia Zhang. Credit: Will Baker.)
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