Description

The dreamlike story of a young woman in contemporary Beijing forging a different life for herself, from one of our brightest new literary stars.

One morning in autumn, just after breakfast, Jia Jia finds her husband dead in the bathtub of their Beijing apartment.

Next to him is a piece of folded paper, a sketch of a strange creature from his dream. He has left her no other sign. Young, alone, and with many unanswered questions, Jia Jia sets out on a journey. It takes her deep into her past where, for the very first time, she begins to have a sense of her future.

‘Startlingly original… A portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free’ Guardian

‘Rich and wild…it gets under your skin’ Observer

‘An Yu writes with style and in a way that is hard to resist’ Sunday Times

‘A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope’ Daily Mail

Publisher Review

Braised Pork is mesmerising, incisive and utterly disarming. An Yu writes beautifully about loneliness, the experience of isolation - from others, from one's own past - and the possibility of human connection, however fragile. * Rosie Price * Rich and strange ... Braised Pork is a debut that gets under your skin -- Anthony Cummins * Observer * A startlingly original imagination... Braised Pork is a sensitive portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free * Guardian * A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope that moves from high-rise Beijing to rural Tibet and the mysterious, magical 'world of water' -- Fanny Blake * Daily Mail * An elegant, dreamlike tale of a woman's self-realisation in contemporary Beijing. Yu's writing has an arresting, unadorned lyricism * Daily Telegraph *