The Seventh Day

From the acclaimed author of Brothers and To Live: a major new novel that limns the joys and sorrows of modern China—a deeply resonant contemporary fable, written with the author's hallmark sophisticated yet bawdy humor and piercing eye for the telling detail.

Yang Fei was born on a moving train, lost by his mother, adopted by a young switchman, raised with simplicity and love—utterly unprepared for the changes that await him and his country. As a young man, he searches for a place to belong in a nation ceaselessly reinventing itself. At forty-one, he meets an unceremonious death, and lacking the money for a burial plot, must roam the afterworld aimlessly. There, over the course of seven days, he encounters the souls of people he's lost, and as he retraces the path of his life, we meet an extraordinary cast of characters: his adoptive father, beautiful ex-wife, neighbors who perished in the demolition of their homes. Vivid, urgent, and panoramic, Yang Fei's passage movingly traces the contours of his vast nation—its absurdities, its sorrows, and its soul. This searing novel affirms Yu Hua's place as the standard-bearer of Chinese fiction.

YU HUA is the author of five novels, six story collections, and three essay collections. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages. He is the recipient of many awards, including the James Joyce Award, France's Prix Courrier International, and Italy's Premio Grinzane Cavour. Yu Hua lives in Beijing.