The Middle Kingdom (32 page)

Spectator

‘By recapturing the powerful impact of the China experience, Andrea Barrett confronts us with the fickleness of our cultural affections, exhuming, as from a distant past, the lure of the Middle Kingdom … Alternating scenes from past and present powerfully convey the awakening and renewal that have often characterized the unwitting foreigner's China passage.'

Los Angeles Times Book Review

‘An absorbing novel … Andrea Barrett sees Grace with wry perception and irony … Barrett must have had extensive experience of China herself – her novel reads like a memoir at times. The portrait of Dr Yu and her tribulations is sensitive and fascinating. And the book enshrines some Chinese thoughts, offered to the reader like small gifts. Dr Yu's husband explains to Grace his tactic for remembering what mattered to him during the Cultural Revolution. He turned his mind, he says, into a memory palace, furnishing it gradually. I'd want to find a place for this novel somewhere on my palace bookshelf.'

Observer

‘A thoughtful novel, full of pearls of oriental wisdom'

Mirror

‘Finely honed … A subtle, luminous novel'

Detroit News

‘The honesty which is characteristic of all Andrea Barrett's work may sometimes be painful but it is always compelling. And never more so than in
The Middle Kingdom
, which in addition to being an engrossing study of one woman's struggle for self-fulfilment also provides a fascinating insight into life in post-Mao China … a powerful reminder of just how completely Barrett understands her characters and how expert she is at bringing them to life on the printed page. If you have yet to encounter Andrea Barrett's thoughtful and evocative prose, wait no longer.'

Yorkshire Evening Post

‘With
The Middle Kingdom
, Andrea Barrett further consolidates her position as one of our most thoughtful chroniclers of contemporary life. It is another impressive milestone in what promises to be a long and fruitful literary journey by an accomplished American author.'

Cleveland Plain Dealer

‘
The Middle Kingdom
is engaging. Andrea Barrett writes with felicity, intelligence and humour.'

Washington Post

‘Alternating scenes from past and present, Andrea Barrett explores national characteristics and beliefs, vividly contrasting lifestyles and cultures. It's a many-layered novel of relationships and discoveries that's not quite what you might expect from the opening chapter.'

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