{"title":"Books by Te-Ping Chen","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781471190612","title":"Land of Big Numbers","description":"\u003cb\u003e‘Te-Ping Chen’s \u003ci\u003eLand of Big Numbers\u003c\/i\u003e contains 10 illuminating, sharp stories set in China, penned by a former investigative reporter who worked in Beijing for several years’ \u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘In this magnificent collection of stories, the author and former Beijing-based correspondent vividly captures the desires and losses of a richly drawn cast while drawing on the realities of contemporary China’​ \u003ci\u003eCosmopolitan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA dazzling debut collection which, deftly and urgently, tells the stories of those living in the biggest and most complicated country on earth. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A brother competes for gaming glory while his twin sister exposes the dark side of the \u003cb\u003eCommunist\u003c\/b\u003e government on her underground blog; a worker at a government call centre is alarmed one day to find herself speaking to a former lover; a delicious new fruit arrives at the neighbourhood market and the locals find it starts to affect their lives in ways they could never have imagined; and a young woman's dreams of making it big in \u003cb\u003eShanghai\u003c\/b\u003e are stalled when she finds herself working as a florist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e These are just some of the myriad lives to be evoked in The Land of Big Numbers, a collection of stories which - sometimes playfully, sometimes darkly - draws back the curtain on the realities of modern \u003cb\u003eChina\u003c\/b\u003e and unveils a cast of characters as rich and complicated as any in \u003cb\u003eworld literature\u003c\/b\u003e. With virtuosic brilliance, Te-ping Chen sheds light on a country much talked about but little understood and announces the birth of a bright new star in the literary firmament. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“A spectacular work, comic, timely, profound. Te-Ping Chen has a superb eye for detail in a China where transformation occurs simultaneously too fast and too slow for lives in pursuit of meaning in a brave new world. Her characters are achingly alive. It’s rare to read a collection so satisfying, where every story adds to a gripping and intricate world.” \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMadeleine Thien, author of the Booker-shortlisted \u003ci\u003eDo Not Say We Have Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Te-Ping Chen shows us how much life, loss, and quiet pleasure exists in the world, just out of view.\"\u003cb\u003e Alexandra Kleeman    \u003c\/b\u003e        \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56301009043829,"sku":"9781471190612","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781471190612_0a975f19-3732-4e7f-98b7-77246627e95d.jpg?v=1786021019"},{"product_id":"the-celestials-1","title":"Sojourners","description":"A sweeping story of two sisters from a small town on Hawaii’s Big Island, whose lives are irrevocably changed when one mysteriously vanishesBig Island, Hawaii, 1920: The Kau sisters, Kana and Leilani, grow up in a small, remote village, their father the owner of the only store in town, which he inherited from his father and intends to pass on to his daughters. Half-Chinese, half-Hawaiian, they fit right into the changing face of their home, which is ever-evolving as plantation workers come from China, Japan, and Portugal, while off in the islands’ cities, white people from the mainland build up the hotel business with dizzying speed.   The sisters grow from an idyllic childhood into a happy adolescence – until one day Leilani suddenly goes missing. Last seen leaving church, she never makes it home. Grief changes the Kau parents, forcing Kana to run the store on her own, her life settled into place in her teens. But then one day she hears a singer’s voice on the radio that haunts her with its similarity to Leilani’s. And though it’s against every ounce of her practical nature, Kana goes to see this singer in person and embarks on a journey that alters the course of her life...   A sweeping tale of two young women coming of age in a changing world, Sojourners brings to life a paradise discovered, beautifully and poignantly illustrating how malleable even the most indelible parts of our lives can be, and just what it takes to free oneself from the past.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57505002324341,"sku":"9781471190629","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682774294901,"sku":"9781471190643","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781471190629.jpg?v=1792511661"},{"product_id":"the-celestials-3","title":"Sojourners","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57505007862133,"sku":"9781471190889","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781471190889.jpg?v=1787039965"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-te-ping-chen.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}