The people of Yanjin know to always have a few jokes on hand. For three thousand years, they have been terrorised by Hua Erniang, a forsaken spirit that rules over their dreams. Failing to amuse this supernatural guest means not waking up at all, crushed by her jilted heart which has calcified into a mountain.
Growing up inside a town adapting to socialist ideals, Mingliang’s life is beset with hardship and adversity that leaves his family in tatters. Seeking fortune elsewhere, he heads west across China's vast central plain, encountering nothing but restless souls mortgaged to debts from former lives, each unwilling to move on for their own reasons. No matter how many times you try to start afresh, you can only run so far from a broken home.
Some wounds take more than a lifetime to heal, but in the meantime, a few wisecracks tucked into the back pocket won’t hurt.
ISBN 9781838905835
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family’s eighth-born son, there’s greatness.
For the second daughter, nothing. In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive.
Zhu Chongba despairs and gives in. But the girl resolves to overcome her destiny. So she takes on her dead brother’s identity – and begins her journey.
Can Zhu escape what is written in the stars, as rebellion sweeps the land? Can she claim her brother’s greatness – and rise, ruthlessly, to take the dragon throne?This is a glorious tale from a powerful new voice. She Who Became the Sun is a reimagining of the rise to power of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu was the real-life peasant rebel who expelled the Mongols, unified China under native rule, and became the founding Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
ISBN 9781529043402