Unspooling backwards through time, Min's entrancing Shanghai-set novel of the Yang family members depicts the love, frustrations and secrets that connect those who share the same blood.
'The future contained in the past, the past contained in the future . . .'
2040: Leo Yang - handsome, distinguished, a real Shanghai man - is on the train back to the city after seeing his family off at the airport. His wife, Eko, and their two eldest children, Yumi and Yoko, are headed for Boston, though one daughter's revelation will soon reroute them to Paris.
2039: Kiko, their youngest daughter and an aspiring actress, decides to pursue fame at any cost, like her icon Marilyn Monroe.
2038: Yumi comes to Yoko in need, after a college-dorm situation at Harvard goes disastrously wrong.
As the years rewind to 2014, Shanghailanders brings readers into the shared and separate lives of the Yang family parent by parent, daughter by daughter, and through the eyes of those in their orbit. Through the speed, technology and history of this old, futuristic city, we catch glimpses of an uncertain, unknowable future.
Whatever may change, universal constants remain: love is complex, life is not fair and family will always be stubbornly connected by blood, secrets and longing. Brilliantly constructed and achingly resonant, Shanghailanders is a mesmerising exploration of marriage, relationships and the layered experience of time.
Publisher: Dialogue
ISBN: 9780349704074
Number of pages: 288
Weight: 520 g
Dimensions: 236 x 160 x 30 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Tender, atmospheric, and wholly captivating . . . Min has established herself as a sharp chronicler of contemporary China-and of the ever-complicated matters of the heart. - Kirsten Chen, author of COUNTERFEIT
Shanghailanders is a wonderful, wildly smart and compelling book. If Shanghai is the future, this terrific novel knows it all. We follow a glorious cluster of characters as they trip over their own longings, in this fiction of real astuteness. - Joan Silber, author of SECRETS OF HAPPINESS
Bracing, thrilling, and breathtakingly smart . . . Shanghailanders offers a new way of seeing. Not just of Shanghai, but France, Japan, America, and every last corner of its characters' minds . . . Absolutely extraordinary. - Liam Callanan, author of PARIS BY THE BOOK
Lyrical and haunting, Shanghailanders explores the enduring mysteries of family . . . Min movingly portrays the Yangs and their many seasons of love and loss in a metropolis that perpetually rises, falls, and emerges from the ashes. An extraordinary debut. - Vanessa Hua, author of FORBIDDEN CITY
Marvellous. - Laura Zigman, author of SMALL WORLD
Smart, tender and lyrical - Shanghailanders never stops surprising the reader . . . - Jiaming Tang, author of CINEMA LOVE
Readers can follow each family member throughout their life -- and discover how lucky it is to have the benefit of hindsight. - Annie Lewis, "The best books to read in May 2024", Luxury London
Min's remarkable debut novel . . . Having knowledge of these characters' futures before we know about their past makes stumbling on their bygone days all the more touching . . . My answer to my original question of whether this unusual storytelling structure is worthwhile would be a resounding yes. - Jean Kwok, The New York Times Book Review
Ambitious . . . a thrilling, futuristic family drama that captures the joys, disappointments, and inside jokes of one Shanghai family in reverse chronological order. - TIME
An unusual and immersive reading experience. - Kirkus Reviews
Min's debut novel is a complicated family story, told in reverse . . . a family simmering with secrets and tensions. - "17 New Books Coming in May", The New York Times
Min's debut will be appreciated by readers who relish the joy of discovery and piecing information together to shape the characters and events in their own minds. It is an intriguing portrait of a fragmented family where nothing is ever quite what it seems. A strong option for book groups. - Library Journal
[An] assured debut, told in reverse chronology . . . credibly reflect[ing] the messiness of family. Min is a writer worth keeping tabs on. - Publishers Weekly
With a cosmopolitan scope that takes readers from Shanghai, to Paris, to Boston . . . There's something here for every reader. - "Most Anticipated Debuts 2024", B&N Reads
Enthralling . . . In her masterful storytelling, Min captures the essence of life in a rapidly changing city and world . . . A captivating read that will linger in the minds of readers. - Booklist
[An] audacious debut . . . Min is a talented writer whose debut shows much promise. Her own future, at least, appears bright. - Washington Post
Min's prose is quick-footed and captivating and the book's structure of a novel-in-stories makes it a perfect holiday read, with interlocking tales to dip into between trips to the pool. - Monocle
A colourful and ambitious novel, Shanghailanders deftly unpacks the meaning of family and belonging. - Dazed
Told in reverse chronological order, this bold experiment with time pays off beautifully, completely unsettling the reader's expectations. Min's prose is elegant and crystalline as it refracts the family's cruelties. - Aube Rey Lescure, author of RIVER EAST, RIVER WEST, The Guardian
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“An interesting and ambitious debut..”
The novel follows a multinational Shanghai family backward in time, beginning in 2040 and moving through time until now.
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This extraordinary novel is created from multiple viewpoints of the family members, and others whose lives are drawn into their tangle of love, ambition, jealousy and desire. A complex and multi layered novel, it... More
“A Unique and Intriguing Debut”
A dazzling debut for Juli Min. Shanghailanders has such a unique plot that it stands out in Contemporary fiction, yet is written in a smart, simplistic way that doesn't overwhelm readers and keeps them engrossed... More
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