Feathered Serpent

In this epic family history, Xiaobin portrays women across five generations with Yu (feather) as the central character whose life story is weaved through the lives of her grandmother, mother, sisters and niece. After committing two unforgivable sins, Yu is sent away from her parents to live with a woman named Jinwu but is soon abandoned by her as well. Yu hopes to redeem herself from her 'original sins' and gain forgiveness from her mother. Her life is a quest for love, fragile but resilient, lonely but determined. One of the foremost works of Chinese fiction literature of the 20th century, Feathered Serpent satirizes and criticizes the totalitarian regime of Chinese Communism. To avoid and survive the fierce government censorship that governs all publications in the People's Republic of China, Xu Xiaobin masterfully created an atmosphere where the distinction between past and present is blurred; memories of previous and present lives are intertwined; and realities and illusions are fused.

ISBN 1416583815   Pages 384 ISBN13 9781416583813 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 367 Publisher Atria Books   Published in New York Imprint Atria Books   Height (mm) 205 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 135 Publication date 16 Mar 2010   Spine width (mm) 24 DEWEY 895.1352   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

"Xu Xiaobin's mysterious and meditati ve writing goes much further. Her aparent desire is to emphasize that which is unknown and unknowable in the human heart, in the character's destiny, and in the civilization he or she inhabits." -- Jin Siyan, acclaimed author in present-day China

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