Cocoon

Praise for Cocoon

 “In a novel by the young writer Zhang Yueran, two old friends confront the legacy of China’s tumultuous past. Ms. Zhang’s focus and finesse—plus the rhythmic subtlety of Mr. Tiang’s English prose—make this novel a luminous gateway into current Chinese fiction for readers seeking an entry-point.”—Mr. Tonkin, Wall Street Journal

"In this multilayered novel about the sins and traumas of China’s past, two childhood friends reunite in their provincial home town after years apart. In the course of a winter night, their alternating monologues sift through their family histories, circling a fateful moment during the Cultural Revolution which left one man’s grandfather comatose and set the other’s up for an eminent medical career. As the two friends’ fortunes become increasingly intertwined, they also trade stories of their childhoods in the eighties, and the historical weight shouldered by their generation." —The New Yorker

“Cocoon is a stupendous novel, a beautiful and formidable achievement on the grandest scale. Its ruthless psychological realism is wondrously amplified by Zhang Yueran’s magical powers of description. The novel’s two narrators, childhood friends, talking and remembering through a long night, speak for a lost generation making its way across an abyss. Their parents and grandparents are damaged and compromised, stunned into silence by the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution. Li Jiaqi and her friend Cheng Gong are ‘walking through a fog made of secrets, stumbling along a path we couldn’t see.’ A glimpse of a forbidden sibling, a dead baby sister, is one of the most extraordinary moments in contemporary literature. Li Jiaqi’s hopeless pursuit of her emotionally unresponsive father is one of the most touching. A grandparent suspended for countless years between life and death summons a terrifying cultural stagnation. Zhang Yueran’s scenes and images have an unworldly gleam of both hard-won insight and timeless truth. The novel is a triumph.” —IAN McEWAN, author of the international bestseller Atonement

"Cocoon is an extraordinary coming-of-age novel, which confronts the cultural and psychological legacy of the older generations with deep understanding and penetrating insights.  The story unfolds with narrative exuberance and acute intelligence.  It is Zhang Yureran's masterpiece." —Ha Jin, author of the National Book Award Winner Waiting

“Flickers of personal history can quietly suggest a national scale. … As the past gives up its ghosts, Cocoon becomes a tapestry.” —The Telegraph

“Zhang (The Promise Bird) dazzles with an intricately crafted web of secrets centered on two childhood friends in China. In lyrical prose, Zhang deeply humanizes her leads as they look to the past in an effort to understand themselves. It adds up to a remarkable and tragic story of family and community.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review 

"Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi are childhood friends. After many years of separation, they reunite and find a shared interest in the stories of their grandparents’ generation. What happened on that rainy night in the deserted water tower in 1967? How did that event impact both families and the generations after? Zhang Yueran, one of the most renowned young writers from China, tells the story of the country’s past in a different perspective and with a unique insight. In her beautiful and meaningful prose, hope and love reside where trauma heals." —The Millions Most Anticipated 

“An irresistible siren-song of a novel by one of our most original voices … a grandfather lies in a coma, his brain destroyed by a nail and two friends reach across time and the gaps between them to unravel the mystery of that nail, a mystery that has haunted and tormented both their families. A transcendent novel that suggests that family secrets and family crimes are the nation from which none of us can ever fully escape.” —JUNOT DÍAZ, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This Is How You Lose Her

“The nail in the skull serves as an indelible metaphor for a country for whom the wiping out of collective memory is embedded within the national psyche.” —Daily Mail

“Fearlessly probing and introspective.” —On the Seawall

“Zhang is unsparing in her description of the unresolved legacies of China’s recent past. She not only traces the dark shadow of revolutionary violence inflicted on the society but also questions the nature and degree of wellbeing promised by the endless curation of material self-interest.” —Irish Times

"The twists and absurdities of Chinese history circle each other across time. In the most personal way, Cocoon charts a pathway through individual and collective memory, through the most hidden fissures and bonds between young people and their parents. With exquisite, precise and lyrical language, the novel sets the benchmark for younger authors seeking to write about history and individuals, proving once again that Zhang Yueran's writing surpasses and distinguishes itself from that of her contemporaries." —Yan Lianke

“We in the West know so little about what’s really going on in China below the surface of public events, but now there is big news: the advent of Zhang Yueran, one of the finest young writers of her generation. Cocoon is a deft, brilliant piece of writing in two voices—a clarion call. Her novel should find a huge and sympathetic audience in the English language.” —Jay Parini, author of Borges and Me

“History, the most problematic of China’s intergenerational connections. The shadows of a chaotic, confusing past, still just within reach, resonating in a bleak contemporary China. A new generation trying to reckon with a communal past shrouded in secrecy and shame. In this captivating novel Zhang Yueran suggests that the new Chinese society cannot be at peace with itself until it breaks out of the ideological straitjacket of the past.” —Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking

“Zhang Yueran is one of the most exciting new Chinese writers. Her work is original and thought-provoking, and her writing style is of a mature, well-rounded nature. The world needs an engagement with China more than ever at the moment that goes beyond the stereotypes and well-trodden genres, to develop genuine links and understanding.” —FRANCES WEIGHTMAN, Director of The Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing

“This novel on the ghosts of the Cultural Revolution reveals a talented young Chinese writer in Zhang Yueran.” —Transfuge

“A great and beautiful novel, from one of the promising pens of contemporary China.” —Image, Demain le monde

“With finesse, and mastery of the two-voiced storytelling technique, Zhang Yueran unlocks, pries open, explores the intricate depths of broken couples, of imploded families, and of scarred generations who inherit the abuses of their ancestors.” —Libération

“With mastery of the art of suspense, Zhang Yueran skilfully brings together the pieces of a scattered puzzle.” —Télérama

“This book is a raging fire.” —Le Nouveau Magazine Littéraire

“Without ever falling into pathos, Zhang Yueran paints an incisive portrait of a generation scarred by decisions made in the dark hours of history.” —Le Courrier Suisse