Mother's Grave

By Hong Zeng

This is Hong Zeng's fourth collection of short stories-a poetic, philosophical work infused with elements of magical realism. Centered on the enduring bonds of family, these stories explore memory, love, loss, trauma, and redemption through a blend of realism, dream, and imagination."Grandpa" tells the story of a grandfather who starves himself to death during China's Great Famine so that his children might survive. "Requiem" portrays a mother's gradual descent into Alzheimer's disease, as she clings to the memories of her childhood while her husband struggles with the lingering effects of a stroke. "Mother's Grave" follows an overseas daughter returning to her homeland in remorse to visit her mother's grave. "Mother," written in fragmented, elliptical language, approaches a deeply repressed childhood memory in which a mother shields her daughter from domestic violence. "Afterlife" is a visionary tale in which a daughter imagines her deceased mother's continued existence, ultimately discovering that her mother's spirit lives on within herself. "The Day of Great Wind" recalls a daughter's father, who devoted his life to his children before enduring seventeen years of paralysis following a stroke. "The Snowman Walking in the Air" is a surrealistic narrative of a son confronting the long-suppressed memory of his father's death, a trauma he had unconsciously erased. "Fish" tells of an older brother who inspires his younger sister to pursue a literary life while quietly relinquishing his own youthful aspirations as a writer. "Wasted Staircase" traces the love and contention of a couple from youth to old age, across continents from China to America. "The Bed on the Sea," narrated in the first person, depicts a young woman's struggle with schizophrenia and multiple identities, as well as her determination to transcend both her traumatic past and the prejudice she encounters in the workplace. "The World in the Palm" enters the inner consciousness of a severely autistic child who grows into adulthood, sustained above all by his mother's unwavering love. "Ancient Hibiscus Town" evokes the protagonist's memories of her hometown of Chengdu, where dream and reality merge amid the disappearance of the ancient city through urban redevelopment.Hong Zeng holds two PhDs in literature and served as a tenure-track professor of literature at Carleton College and Hamline University in Minnesota for thirteen years. She is the author of five books, dozens of scholarly essays on literary criticism, and a bilingual volume of poetry in English and Chinese.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HGD6YXLW
• ISBN13: 9798240846328
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Not Avail
• Length: 602 Pages
• Weight: 2.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.3" x 6.0"