The Map of Loss

An epic debut novel set against the backdrop of a changing China after the Cultural Revolution. A novel about dreams and lives left behind.
Yitian has been living in America for almost ten years when his mother calls him to say that his father has left their village home and hasn't returned. And although Yitian hasn't seen his father all these years and they parted without forgiving each other for what happened many years ago, he decides to return to China. Once in his native but now so foreign lands, Yitian tries to piece together the events of the past while simultaneously navigating the impenetrable bureaucracy of China. The evasiveness with which his mother behaves only exacerbates the search situation. There is only one way out: to seek help from the only person who once understood him.
Hanwen — a city girl, she was born and raised in Shanghai, dreamed of entering college and studying to be an engineer, but she, like all graduates of city schools, was “assigned” to a village where former school students are supposed to promote agriculture in China. There she meets Yitian, so unlike the other village boys, secretly reading books and dreaming of obtaining an education that is inaccessible to him.
Years later, Yitian teaches at an American university, while Hanwen is a socialite, the wife of a high-ranking Chinese official. Meeting years later, they set off in search of the missing old man, diving into the past — their own and that of the country.
“The Map of Loss” is a subtle novel about family, forgiveness, attempts to change fate, and what true home really is.