Description

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024

Shanghai, 2007: feeling betrayed by her American mother’s engagement to their rich landlord Lu Fang, fourteen-year-old Alva begins plotting her escape. But the exclusive American School – a potential ticket out – is not what she imagined.

Qingdao, 1985: newlywed Lu Fang works as a lowly shipping clerk. Though he aspires to a bright future, he is one of many casualties of harsh political reforms. Then China opens up to foreigners and capital, and Lu Fang meets a woman who makes him question what he should settle for…

A mesmerising reversal of the east-west immigrant narrative set against China’s economic boom, River East, River West is a deeply moving exploration of race, identity and family, of capitalism’s false promise and private dreams.

Publisher Review

'A novel about reinvention. It's original, it's funny, and it's sometimes heartbreaking as well' Monica Ali, bestselling author of Love Marriage (judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024) 'Aube Rey Lescure's beautiful debut makes us feel the inexhaustible mystery of other lives. A moving portrait of the love between a mother and daughter, River East, River West portrays, too, the powerlessness of our loves against the riptides of history' Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness 'A searing and intimate exploration of both China and the American Dream. Poignant and propulsive, thoughtful and moving. I loved this book' Jean Kwok, bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee 'A compelling and thought-provoking coming-of-age story about identity and the narratives we create about ourselves. River East, River West offers a vivid portrait of China and the uneasy relationships of class and family history' Catherine Cho, author of Inferno '"River east, river west" comes from a famous Chinese saying, which suggests that the world or people's destinies are always in constant change, and there is no fixed path of rise, fall, honour or disgrace. Aube Rey Lescure has represented this idea brilliantly in her novel' Xinran, author of The Good Women of China 'River East, River West offers a fascinating, unexpected insight into a rapidly changing China in the years leading up to 2008. It is a wonderfully compelling debut about a Chinese-American family that lays bare the excesses of wealth, hedonism, poverty, despair and neocolonial arrogance. Clear-eyed, illuminating, tender, devastating, I was swept along by Aube Rey Lescure's storytelling' Priscilla Morris, author of Black Butterflies 'A keen exploration of love, heritage and the search for home, told through alternating points of view - rebellious Alva and her stepfather Lu Fang, with secrets of his own. Aube Rey Lescure's portrayal of the glitter and grit of China's tumultuous economic rise is by turns luminous and searing. A haunting debut' Vanessa Hua, bestselling author of Forbidden City 'A beautifully expansive tale of new beginnings - and the pasts we can't extricate ourselves from' Thao Thai, author of Banyan Moon 'Beautifully written and brilliant on race, identity, family and feeling like an outsider' Sara Lawrence, Daily Mail 'A complex and moving exploration of race, class, gender, and family... An ambitious, innovative take on both the immigrant and coming-of-age novel' Kirkus Review 'River East, River West is a beautiful novel, wise and sensitive in dealing with the entanglements of love and culture across national boundaries, and across time; and despite its vast scope, it always feels intimate. A marvellous achievement' Tash Aw, author of Five Star Billionaire