Book Review - Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li - Reviewed by Doris Mousdale

The second collection of stories from Yiyun Li, author of the Guardian First Book Award-winning A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and The Vagrants, are a report from the frontline of a changing world. Set in China of the 21st century, where economic development has led to situations unknown to previous decades: residents in a shabby apartment building witnessing in awe the real estate boom; a local entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist sheltering women in trouble in her mansion; a group of retired women discovering fame late in their lives as private investigators specializing in extramarital affairs. Underneath the veneer of prosperity and opportunity, however, lie the struggles of characters trying to reorient themselves in the unfamiliar landscapes of modern China, their fates are affected as much by the historical moments in which they reside as by the choices they make.

Book review by Doris Mousdale, Arcadia Bookshop, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand

Published by Harper Collins (ISBN 9780007303090)
Book review produced by BookTV.nz, copyright BookTV.nz, www.booktv.co.nz

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