A Novel
by Liu Zhenyun
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2014
224 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Li Xuelian, married to Qin Yuhe, is pregnant with their second child. Happy news? Not in China, with its one-child policy. It is a crime. What is she to do? Her only option is divorcing before the second child is born.
"Once the baby has entered into the household registry, we'll marry again. The baby will be born after the divorce, so we'll each have one child when we marry again. No law says couples with one child can't marry." Perfect! Except that after the divorce, Qin marries...another woman who is expecting a baby. Mad with rage, Li runs to the judge, begging him to declare the divorce a sham so she may remarry and truly divorce the fool!
Liu's politically charged plot reads like an absurd and hilarious comedy, but couched in his fiction is a harsh indictment of China's one-child law and a head-on critique of China's corrupt system. I Did Not Kill My Husband is storytelling and satire of the highest order, sharp-edged and ironic.
"Starred Review. Liu has written a masterful tale that will make you laugh even as you despair. His words are simple but they will linger in your memory long after you have finished." - Kirkus Reviews
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Liu Zhenyun: Liu Zhenyun joined the People's Liberation Army in 1973 China and spent five years in the Gobi desert. After graduating from Peking University, he became a journalist at the Daily Farmers. He won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2011 and is the author of I Am Not Pan Jinlian,One Sentence Worth Ten Thousand, and
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At times, our own light goes out, and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
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