Shanghai Baby

...opens this semi-autobiographical work of fiction by a young chinese writer, the first of a new wave of young female 'Glam lit' writers to achieve mainstream success. Coco, the books main character, is a Shanghai cafe waitress full of enthusiasm for life and impatient to discover who she really is. She falls in love with a young man, Tian Tian, for whom she feels tenderness and love but who is reclusive and impotent, and an occasional user of drugs. Despite her parents objections Coco moves in with him, leaves her job and throws herself into writing a novel. Shortly afterwards she meets Mark, a dashing and sensual foreign businessman; the tow are uncontrollably attracted and begin a highly charged, physical affair. The book then turns to the real subject: the conflicted feelings involved in love and passion; the battle between body and soul. Tom between two lovers, and tormented by her deceit, her unfinished novel and her entangled feelings Coco starts to break down. As her foreign lover prepares to return home she spends all her time with him, more passionate and unbridled than ever, despite her growing concern for Tian Tian. One Morning, not long after Mark's departure, she finds Tian Tian dead next to her in bed. Abandoned in a city of vanity and desire, the book ends as Coco musters the courage to face life, and puts the finishing touches to her first, semi-autobiographical novel, which reflects her unique and very personal attitude to her lovers memory.

“Escellent.-- Heat”

Escellent. - Heat

A steamy Chinese novel in the Western style about life in contemporary China...condemned for exploring subjects that are completely taboo in modern Chinese literature. - The Times

Wei Hui is intelligent and a passionte spokesperson for modern China. - Marie Claire

Shanghai Baby is beautifully written, and the author cleary combines the qualities of natural feeling for writing with intelligence.

Wei Hui lives in Shanghai and is a graduate of the prestigious Fudan University. She is 27. This is her first novel.

Publicly burned in China for its sensual nature and irreverent style, this novel is the semi-autobiographical story of Coco, a cafe waitress, who is full of enthusiasm and impatience for life. She meets a young man, Tian Tian, for whom she feels tenderness and love, but he is reclusive, impotent and an increasing user of drugs. Despite parental objections, Coco moves in with him, leaves her job and throws herself into writing.Shortly afterwards she meets Mark, a married Westerner. The two are uncontrollably attracted and begin a highly charged, physical affair. Torn between her two lovers, and tormented by her deceit, her unfinished novel and the conflicting feelings involved in love and betrayal, Coco begins to find out who she really is.Here is a beautifully written novel with a distinct voice that describes China on the brink of its own social and sexual revolution.

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