Mountain Stories
The first English-language publication from a bestselling Chinese author; six fascinating stories with deep roots in China's past – and great relevance to the present.
China’s Qinling Mountains are as rich in legend as they are in wildlife. In these six tales from nationally bestselling author Ye Guangqin, tigers, pandas, monkeys and bears live alongside the region’s equally various human residents – some striving to ‘keep apace with the times’, others struggling to save their way of life from the onslaught of nationwide change. Both have much to learn from each other.
Beautifully highlighting the absurdity of everyday human interactions, and the potential for tragedy when the lives of animals become entangled with ours, Mountain Stories is a stunning, enthralling collection that will transport international readers to a rarely-seen part of our world; the perfect introduction to a major new voice in world literature.
About the Author
Ye Guangqin was born in Beijing in 1948, the thirteenth child of Manchu parents. At the age of twenty, during the height of the Cultural Revolution, she was seconded to work as a nurse in the western city of Xi’an. It was here that she developed a fascination with the culture of Shaanxi Province, and in particular, the fauna and villagers of the Qinling Mountains – which became the subject of Mountain Stories, the first English-language publication of her work, published in 2017 by Valley Press.
On becoming a full-time professional writer in the 1990s, she drew on her royal background to create historical tales of Old Peking as well as elaborating on local legends from her adopted area. Ye Guangqin’s Greenwood Riverside, a bestselling account of the executed mountain bandit leader Wei Futang, was shortlisted for the Mao Dun Literary Prize before being adapted into a television serial.
Vital Statistics
Imprint: Valley Press
Edition: First (July 2017)
Paperback ISBN: 9781908853813
Catalogue number: VP0098
Page count: 240
Trim size: 198x129mm
