The Immortal Woman

By su chang

Book Overview

Longlisted, 2025 Toronto Book Awards
A CBC Best Book of 2025

A sweeping generational story of heartbreak, resilience, and yearning, revealing an insider's view of the fractured lives of Chinese immigrants and those they leave behind.

Lemei, once a student Red Guard leader in 1960s Shanghai and a journalist at a state newspaper, was involved in a brutal act of violence during the Tiananmen Square protests and lost all hope for her country. Her daughter, Lin, is a student at an American university on a mission to become a true Westerner. She tirelessly erases her birth identity, abandons her Chinese suitor, and pursues a white lover, all the while haunted by the scars of her upbringing. Following China's meteoric rise, Lemei is slowly dragged into a nationalistic perspective that stuns Lin. Their final confrontation results in tragic consequences, but ultimately, offers hope for a better future. By turns wry and lyrical, The Immortal Woman reminds us to hold tight to our humanity at any cost.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1487013175
• ISBN13: 9781487013172
• Release Date: March 2025
• Publisher: House of Anansi Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.1"