Four Treasures of the Sky: compelling debut about identity and belonging in 1880s American West

Daiyu is a propulsive and dazzling debut set against the Chinese Exclusion Act, following one Chinese girl’s fight to claim her place. Named after a ghost, she disguises herself as a boy to attend a calligraphy school in Zhifu, only to be swept across an ocean to San Francisco and the lawless American West. Kidnapped, trafficked, and haunted by a name she fears is a curse, her journey spans a San Francisco brothel and a shop tucked into the Idaho mountains as she recovers her voice and her own story. Against a backdrop of anti-Chinese violence, she must reinvent herself again and again to survive and to belong.

As the years unfold, Daiyu draws on the selves she has been—the ones she hopes to leave behind—in a desperate quest to outrun tragedy and to claim a name that is truly hers. The novel weaves myth and history into a sweeping tale of identity, love and belonging, steeped in untold history and Chinese folklore. It is a literary tour de force and a groundbreaking work of historical fiction that resonates with the present moment.

Kenmerken

• Schriftelijk debuut vol energie en hartzeer
• Verhaaltjes verweven met mythes en geschiedenis
• Daoyu reist van China naar San Francisco en Idaho
• Verkenning van identiteit en overlevingsdrang
• Bevat elementen uit Chinese folklore
• Terugkerende thema’s: vrijheid en zelfontdekking

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