Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE

‘Wonderful writing.’ SARAH HALL
‘Dazzlingly good.’ DANIELLE McLAUGHLIN
‘Precise, surreal and emotionally devastating’ LUCY CALDWELL

‘How do you know this is all real and happening? How can you be sure you haven’t already died in the earthquake and are just living in the afterlife?’

In her highly anticipated English-language debut, Yan Ge explores isolation in nine iridescent, witty and wondrous tales. Both contemporary and ancient, real and surreal, the stories in Elsewhere range from China to Dublin to London and Stockholm.

From a group of writers lounging on the edge of a disaster zone to a mandarin ostracised from his old court trying to avoid assassination, and from a woman who inexplicably loses her voice to a couple who meet all too fleetingly at a cinema in Dublin, these are strange and beguiling stories of dispossession, longing and the diasporic experience.

‘Glorious’ MIA GALLAGHER
‘Gripping, stunning, worldly and otherworldly.’ MADELEINE THIEN
‘Equal parts shimmering wit and startling emotional depth.’ JEREMY TIAN
‘One of the most surprising writers I’ve read in recent years. . . fantastic.’ MATT BELL

Publisher Review

'I loved Strange Beasts of China - charged with melancholy surrealism, its preoccupations with being and loneliness are both timeless and all too timely.' - SHARLENE TEO 'A fascinating glimpse into the life of a dysfunctional family in modern China.' - MARINA LEWYCKA (on The Chilli Bean Paste Clan)