Women, Seated

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What to expect

'Memorable and fascinating' COLM TÓIBÍN

'Propulsive, I couldn't put it down' MEG WOLITZER

'Vivid, smart, suspenseful' MO YAN

'A tight modern thriller' KIRKUS

In Women, Seated, we enter the world of an elite Chinese family: A life of luxury, limitless power, and around-the-clock service, which includes their trusted nanny Yu Ling.

Slipping in and out of the shadows, careful to speak deferentially, meticulous in her care of their only son Kuan Kuan, Yu has served the family for years and knows their secrets. But little do they suspect that Yu has secrets of her own.

In the pressure-cooker political environment of China, the fates of even the most powerful families can reverse overnight. When Kuan Kuan's father and grandfather are arrested and his socialite mother goes on the run, Yu is left behind to make a series of life-changing choices.

Will she be able to outrun her own past? How far will she go to claim what she considers her due?

Critics Review

Stupendous . . . Zhang Yueran's scenes and images have an unworldly gleam of both hard-won insight and timeless truth. The novel is a triumph
Ian McEwan on Cocoon
A masterful blend of narrative suspense, emotional intimacy and self-discovery
Guardian
Propulsive . . . a nanny witnesses a wealthy Chinese family's fall from grace - all while knowing their darkest secrets'
Millions
A nanny for a wealthy family plots to kidnap the child in her care. Unfortunately, her plans go off the rails . . . thrilling
NPR
This is a lovely novel of absences, the story of a family where most of the members are not present, and where the servants are in control. It captures Chinese society at a given moment, but, more important, it creates memorable and fascinating scenes and characters.
Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn
Vivid, smart, suspenseful
Mo Yan, Nobel Prize-winning author of Frog
Women, Seated is a propulsive, tightly wound, and beautifully observed novel that explores ideas of power, secrets, motherhood, and sacrifice. I couldn't put it down.
Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion
In this tense, spare novel of class, cruelty, and redemption, a woman working as a live-in housekeeper for a wealthy family in Beijing abruptly finds herself responsible for her employers' young son when his father is detained by the authorities and his mother goes into hiding
New Yorker

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