by Te-Ping Chen
First published 2021
Twin brothers in contemporary China face drastically different futures. One brother devotes himself to professional gaming while the other commits to political activism. Their divergent choices reflect the limited mobility that constrains millions across the country. A woman escapes to the city for work at a government call center, only to find her violent ex-boyfriend has followed her there. A man gets pulled into China's unpredictable stock market, chasing high rewards despite devastating risks. Meanwhile, a group of passengers becomes inexplicably trapped on a subway platform for months, waiting endlessly for official permission to leave. These interconnected stories move between stark realism and playful magical elements, revealing how ordinary people navigate a system that offers few genuine opportunities for advancement. Chen captures the struggles of individuals caught between personal desires and institutional barriers, showing how they search for small freedoms within larger constraints.
Genres: fiction, short-stories, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: interconnected-stories, ordinary-people
Setting: China
Period: Contemporary
256 pages · Hardcover · Simon and Schuster UK