From the award-winning author, an enthralling novel about the unravelling lives of a nanny and the family she works for following the downfall of its patriarch, a prominent Chinese politician 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, and how far will she go to claim what she considers her due?

Autorentext
Zhang Yueran is the award-winning author of several novels written in Chinese, including Cocoon, which was translated around the world and won the Best Asian Novel of the Prix Transfuge in 2019. She lives in Beijing.

Jeremy Tiang is a prolific translator whose 2022 translation of Ninth Building, by Zou Jingzhi, was longlisted for the International Booker Prize. He lives in New York City.