A Map for the Missing

More about the book

Set in post-Cultural Revolution China, this epic debut novel explores the costs of pursuing dreams and the lives we leave behind. Tang Yitian, living in America for nearly a decade, receives an urgent call from his mother: his father has vanished from their rural village. He left their courtyard two days earlier with only a plastic bag, and no one has seen him since. Upon returning to the village, Yitian faces the challenges of navigating the country's bureaucracy as an outsider, while his mother’s evasiveness deepens the mystery. To seek answers, he reconnects with childhood friend Tian Hanwen, who shared his aspirations for a life of knowledge. Hanwen was “sent down” to Yitian’s village during China’s rustication campaign, and they once dreamed of attending university together. However, tragedy altered their paths—Yitian moved to Beijing and then America, while Hanwen became a wealthy housewife. As they reunite as adults, Yitian and Hanwen embark on a journey to find his father, confronting their shared past and the choices that shaped their lives. Spanning the late 1970s to the 1990s, the narrative weaves through rural provinces and bustling cities, offering a poignant exploration of family, forgiveness, and the meaning of home.