Overview

A dark, magical realist debut family saga that moves through the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Cultural Revolution, and the present day to explore the effects of intergenerational trauma, the legacy of colonialism, and the inescapability of fate. Qianze has not seen her father in eleven years, since he walked out of her life the night of her fourteenth birthday and disappeared without a trace. But then she gets a call--there is a man on the porch of her childhood home, and he's asking for her. This man isn't the Ba Qianze remembers: he is much older, more fragile, and worst of all, haunted by a half-forgotten prophecy. While Qianze wrestles with what she owes this near-stranger, Ba begins telling stories of his past. From his bloody days as a Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution to his mother's youth under Japanese occupation, he circles around the prophecy he came to deliver. Qianze has always longed to know more about her family history, but as Ba reveals a past far darker than she could have imagined, she finds herself plagued by strange visions--fox spirits trail her on her evening commute, a terrifying jackalope stalks her nightmares, and the looming prophecy slinks ever closer. Spanning decades and continents, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing employs a combination of stunningly rendered folklore and atmospheric prose to examine the legacy of colonialism through the eyes of three generations. Alice Evelyn Yang's debut novel is a story of family and forgiveness, of folklore and fate, that will leave you unsettled and undone.

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9780063419292

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Reviews

""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is a breathtaking meditation on memory and the quiet violence of history where the past refuses to stay buried. Richly layered and woven intricately with controlled lyricism, Alice Evelyn Yang conjures an unmissable and deeply felt folktale. This is a novel of rare depth and resonance."" -- Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb ""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is an intensely moving novel of otherworldly grace. Alice Evelyn Yang writes with poetic precision and startling empathy as she plunges us into the heart of a family haunted by beasts both supernatural and all too human. This is a story about the monsters we inherit and those we create; about the uncanny slippages of memory, trauma, and time; about the possibility and necessity of forgiveness. It is a beautiful, visceral, and haunting novel; I was spellbound from the first page."" -- Naomi Xu Elegant, author of Gingko Season ""Epic in scope, written with dauntless power and grace, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing offers an unflinching look at the legacies that continue to haunt one family through a century of reckoning. Alice Evelyn Yang's richly threaded novel sings with artful prose and unforgettable storytelling, reminding us of the promise of redemption, even amid the dark consequences of violence. This is a book that will stir you to your core."" -- Thao Thai, author of Banyan Moon

""Epic in scope, written with dauntless power and grace, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing offers an unflinching look at the legacies that continue to haunt one family through a century of reckoning. Alice Evelyn Yang's richly threaded novel sings with artful prose and unforgettable storytelling, reminding us of the promise of redemption, even amid the dark consequences of violence. This is a book that will stir you to your core."" -- Thao Thai, author of Banyan Moon ""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing deftly weaves together myth and magic, history of a family and that of a nation. It sheds light on the past that we keep secret--and in so doing, suggests a possibility of redemption."" -- Juhea Kim, author of Beasts of a Little Land and City of Night Birds ""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is a breathtaking meditation on memory and the quiet violence of history where the past refuses to stay buried. Richly layered and woven intricately with controlled lyricism, Alice Evelyn Yang conjures an unmissable and deeply felt folktale. This is a novel of rare depth and resonance."" -- Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb ""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is an intensely moving novel of otherworldly grace. Alice Evelyn Yang writes with poetic precision and startling empathy as she plunges us into the heart of a family haunted by beasts both supernatural and all too human. This is a story about the monsters we inherit and those we create; about the uncanny slippages of memory, trauma, and time; about the possibility and necessity of forgiveness. It is a beautiful, visceral, and haunting novel; I was spellbound from the first page."" -- Naomi Xu Elegant, author of Gingko Season

""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is a breathtaking meditation on memory and the quiet violence of history where the past refuses to stay buried. Richly layered and woven intricately with controlled lyricism, Alice Evelyn Yang conjures an unmissable and deeply felt folktale. This is a novel of rare depth and resonance."" -- Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb

""Epic in scope, written with dauntless power and grace, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing offers an unflinching look at the legacies that continue to haunt one family through a century of reckoning. Alice Evelyn Yang's richly threaded novel sings with artful prose and unforgettable storytelling, reminding us of the promise of redemption, even amid the dark consequences of violence. This is a book that will stir you to your core."" -- Thao Thai, author of Banyan Moon ""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing deftly weaves together myth and magic, history of a family and that of a nation. It sheds light on the past that we keep secret--and in so doing, suggests a possibility of redemption."" -- Juhea Kim, author of Beasts of a Little Land and City of Night Birds ""A dark, glittering gem of a book. Yang plumbs the depths of the human heart with sumptuous prose, weaving an enthralling tale of family curses, inheritances, and excavated histories that will stay with readers long afterwards. A novel that haunts and enchants in equal measure."" -- Gina Chung, author of Sea Change and Green Frog ""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is a breathtaking meditation on memory and the quiet violence of history where the past refuses to stay buried. Richly layered and woven intricately with controlled lyricism, Alice Evelyn Yang conjures an unmissable and deeply felt folktale. This is a novel of rare depth and resonance."" -- Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb ""A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing is an intensely moving novel of otherworldly grace. Alice Evelyn Yang writes with poetic precision and startling empathy as she plunges us into the heart of a family haunted by beasts both supernatural and all too human. This is a story about the monsters we inherit and those we create; about the uncanny slippages of memory, trauma, and time; about the possibility and necessity of forgiveness. It is a beautiful, visceral, and haunting novel; I was spellbound from the first page."" -- Naomi Xu Elegant, author of Gingko Season

Author Information

Alice Evelyn Yang is a Chinese American writer from Norfolk, Virginia. Her work has been published in MQR, AAWW's The Margins, and The Rumpus, among others. She is the recipient of the 2022-23 Jesmyn Ward Prize from MQR and completed her MFA in Fiction in 2022 at Columbia University, where she was awarded the Felipe De Alba Fellowship and nominated for the Henfield Prize. This is her first novel.

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