Geling Yan crafts narratives that delve into the complexities of human relationships and societal pressures, often against the backdrop of Chinese history. Her writing is distinguished by its keen psychological insight and a powerful narrative style that draws readers deeply into her characters' lives. With a background that spans performance and wartime journalism, Yan brings a unique perspective to her storytelling. Her works, frequently adapted for film, showcase a profound understanding of human nature and a remarkable ability to capture the essence of different eras.
Run by Father Engelmann, an American priest who has been in China for many years, the church is supposedly neutral ground in the war between China and Japan. Full of wonderful characters, from the austere priest to the irreverent prostitutes, it is a story about how war upsets all prejudices and how love can flourish amidst death.
She is sold to a wealthy Chinese family, where she becomes Duohe - the clandestine second wife to the only son, and the secret bearer of his children. Against all odds, Duohe forms an unlikely friendship with the first wife Xiaohuan, united by the unshakeable bonds of motherhood and family.
From one of China's most acclaimed writers, this is an unflinching, erotic and exciting tale of forbidden love in the gold rush era of turn-of-the-century San Francisco. Geling Yan traces the lives of two individuals separated by prejudice and mistrust, but bound forever by their passion for one another. Fusang is a Chinese girl shanghaied from her village in China, brought to California and sold into the seedy underworld of prostitution. Soon she falls into an obsessive relationship with Chris, an 11-year-old boy. As years pass, numerous barriers are placed between the lovers - by Chris's wealthy family, and most menacingly by Fusang's murderous pimp, who bestrides Chinatown with a clutch of daggers at his waist.
From the acclaimed author of The Lost Daughter of Happiness comes a groundbreaking novel that will introduce readers to the little-known underworlds of contemporary China Geling Yan captivates readers once more in her breakthrough novel. This is the fantastical tale of Dan Dong, an unemployed factory worker whose life takes a series of unexpected twists after he discovers that, by posing as a journalist, he can eat exquisite gourmet meals for free at state-sponsored banquets. But the secrets he overhears at these events eventually lead Dan down a twisted, intrigue-laden path, and his subterfuge and his real identity become harder and harder to separate. When he becomes privy to a scandal that runs from the depths of society to its highest rungs, Dan must find a way to uncover the corruption -- without revealing the dangerous truth about himself.
"Hongmei is the perfect Asian wife: beautiful, diligent, and passive. She lives a quiet life in Northern California with her husband, Glen, an intelligent and caring college professor. But when a mysterious person begins to email her, Hongmei can't resist and soon finds herself enthralled in a psychological cat-and-mouse game. Who is stalking her? And why does s/he know her deepest, darkest secrets? As Hongmei is forced to confront her own dark past in China, her perfect life begins to fall apart. Desperate and self-destructive, she embarks on an investigation into her emailer's secret history. One that may tear her life and marriage apart forever"--