The Bathing Women: A Novel
*Starred Review* Tie Ning is a bestselling writer in China, and this acclaimed novel is her first to be translated into English. During the Cultural Revolution, Tiao and her sister Fan live practically alone in a housing block near the work farm where their parents are sent for weeks at a time, until their mother fakes an illness to keep from going back to the camp. After an affair with the doctor who diagnosed her, their mother gives birth to Tiao and Fan’s hated half-sister, Quan. After the accidental but maybe intentional death of Quan, Tiao and Fan, along with their friends, Fei and Youyou, bribe and sell their way through the red-tape tangle of Communist bureaucracy to escape as many proscriptions as they can, all while still haunted by guilt over Quan’s death. But the risks and sacrifices they make of their bodies, their families, and their cultural identity only lead to fleeting moments of joy. Ning masterfully pins down the kaleidoscope of emotions aroused by her characters’ actions, and moments of pain and conflict are colored with heartrending beauty. Her characters make desperate, often self-destructive decisions, but it seems as though they have no choice but to hurtle toward their future. --Sarah Hunter