The Bathing Women

(Paperback)

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Longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize

A modern Chinese classic
Sisters Tiao and Fan grew up in the shadow of the Cultural Revolution.

They witnessed immense suffering, including the death of their baby sister in a tragic accident. It was an accident they could have prevented; an accident that will stay with them forever.

In the China of the 1990s the sisters lead seemingly successful lives.

Tiao is a successful childrens publisher but incapable of finding love. Fan has moved to America, desperate to shun her Chinese heritage. Then there is their childhood friend Fei: beautiful, hedonistic and outwardly ambitious.

As the women grapple with love, rivalry and past secrets will they find the freedom and redemption they crave

Spellbinding, unforgettable, and an important chronicle of modern China, The Bathing Women is a powerful and beautiful portrait of the strength of female friendship in the face of adversity.

Reviews

If I were to pick the ten best literary works in the world of the past ten years, I would definitely rank THE BATHING WOMEN among them Kenzabur e, Nobel Laureate

As this spirited quartet chase their dreams against a backdrop of shifting cultural values, the novel a million-copy seller in China blends romance and feminism to paint an intimate portrait of these womens ambitions, appetites and rivalries DAILY MAIL

[A] fascinating story of sisters growing up in the shadow of the cultural revolution GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Intelligent and evocative writing about the shaping effect of deprivation and how people may still draw reservoirs of love and kindness from these voids SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Tie Nings unique novel about three Chinese women and their struggles In todays fast-changing China is as gorgeous as the Cezanne painting the novel takes its title from Xinran, author of THE GOOD WOMEN OF CHINA

A probing and gracefully written portrait of an extended Chinese family, related by blood and mystery, in which the author explores areas of human behavior traditionally considered off-limits: the intimate and sexual lives of ordinary Chinese women Hannah Pakula, author of THE LAST EMPRESS

Author Bio

Tie Ning won a national short story award at the age of twenty-five and is the recipient of numerous other literary prizes. She has published ten bookscollections of short fiction, essays, and novelsthree of which were made into movies and television series, including The Bathing Women. In 2006, at the age of forty-nine, she was elected president of the Chinese Writers Association, becoming the youngest writer and first woman to be honored in this way. Her works have been translated into Russian, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, and Vietnamese. The Bathing Women is her first work to be translated into English.