Born of the Storm (9780804860789)

Spanning the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution and China's economic boom, this sweeping novel follows three lives transformed by a nation in relentless pursuit of prosperity.

As China races toward unprecedented wealth, ambition and reinvention define a new generation. Lin Zhe's landmark novel follows three strivers determined to leave the past behind as they chase success in the country's booming entertainment and financial industries.

• Zhu Wuyue: A single mother determined to build a new life amid the glittering promises of Beijing's film and television industry.
• Kaka: Wuyue's brother-in-law, abandoned as an infant and raised in a succession of makeshift homes, reinvents himself as an investment banker. His relentless pursuit of wealth is driven by a single goal: to reclaim the love he left behind years ago.
• Dong Liya: Once a celebrated actress and now a political exile, she falls into poverty and finds herself working as a maid in a diplomat's household, confronting middle age, lost status and the possibility of a second chance.

Together, their stories reveal both the promise and the profound costs of China's economic transformation, as old certainties give way to new ambitions and success demands ever greater sacrifices.

Finally available in English in George A. Fowler's elegant translation, this landmark novel by acclaimed Chinese author Lin Zhe offers a compelling portrait of modern China and a deeply human exploration of ambition, class, identity and reinvention.


About the Author:
Lin Zhe is the pen name of of Zhang Yonghong. She was born in 1956 of Han Chinese parents then serving in the People's Liberation Army in Kashi (Kashgar), a small frontier city in what is now Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. After graduating from the Chinese Language and Literature Department of Fudan University in 1980, she worked as a reporter and editor for Women of China magazine in Beijing. She has written fourteen novels that focus on women's issues relating to marriage and personal and family life, as well as three TV drama series. Her first novel translated into English, Old Town, was published in 2011.

George A. Fowler received a BA from St. Michael's College, the University of Toronto and an MAIS from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. His translations include Old Town by Lin Zhe, Sitti Nurbaya by March Rusli, The Golden Road and Life Under Mao Zedong's Rule by Zhang Da-Peng, The Rose of Cikembang by Kwee Tek Hoay and Against the Grain by Suwarsih Djojopuspito. He lives in Woodinville, WA.