LIKE SPILLED WATER

Na’s life at her vocational college in China ends when she has to go home and support her family.

Nineteen-year-old Na barely knows her parents, who work year-round in the city of Taiyuan. Even her younger brother, Bao-bao, became a stranger after joining their parents in the city to study for the National Higher Education Entrance Exam. Na’s modest freedom at vocational college ends when Bao-bao dies and she returns to live with her parents. As Na adjusts to being an only child, she looks through her brother’s possessions and begins to realize Bao-bao wasn’t the dedicated, high-achieving student she envied, and she has questions about the circumstances surrounding his death. Na’s feelings of jealousy regarding male favoritism and her limited future options inspire sympathy. She filters detailed depictions of filial piety, funeral rites, grief, romantic relationships, and parental support through a modern teenager’s perspective. While the depiction of traditional Chinese sayings and expectations, their impact on Na, and her limited awareness of mental health might be jarring to some Western readers, Na is likewise puzzled by the characters in Jane Eyre and their individual freedoms. Na’s character-driven story arc is stealthily subversive. The multigenerational cast is all Chinese.

Will lead readers through a quiet revolution.