{"product_id":"river-east-river-west-9780063257863","title":"River East, River West","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Smart, confident storytelling. . . has perceptive things to say about the explosion of wealth in China and the fraught, totemic influence Americans have on the nation's psyche.\" -- \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePart mesmerizing coming-of-age tale, part intimate family drama, this stunning debut novel follows a young woman searching for belonging and opportunity in a rapidly changing world.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShanghai, 2007: Feeling betrayed by her American mother's engagement to their rich landlord Lu Fang, teenager Alva begins plotting her escape. But the exclusive American School--a potential ticket out--is not what she imagined, and she's surprised to discover an institution run by an exclusive community of expats, and the ever-wilder thrills of a city where foreigners can ostensibly act as they please.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eQingdao, 1985: Newlywed Lu Fang works as a lowly shipping clerk. Though he aspires to a bright future, he is one of many casualties of harsh political reforms. Then China opens up to foreigners and capital, and Lu Fang meets a\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003ewoman who makes him question what he should settle for.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeamlessly alternating between these two points of view, \u003cem\u003eRiver East, River West\u003c\/em\u003e explores complex questions of identity as Alva comes of age: Is she a local or a foreigner? Who is this man her mother married, and can he be a father when she never had one? A powerful reversal of the east-to-west immigrant narrative set against China's economic rise, this lauded debut novel is a profoundly moving portrait of girlhood, race, and class, cultural identity and belonging, as it is the seductive allure of the American Dream.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Delicately nuanced, devilishly propulsive, and achingly human, this is a coming-of-age story like no other.\" \u003c\/strong\u003e--\u003cstrong\u003eOprah Daily\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRey Lescure, Aube:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAube Rey Lescure\u003c\/strong\u003e is a French-Chinese-American writer who grew up between Shanghai, northern China, and the south of France. After receiving her B.A. from Yale University, she worked in foreign policy and has co-authored and translated two books on Chinese politics and economics. She was the 2019 Ivan Gold Fellow at the Writers' Room of Boston, a Pauline Scheer Fellow at GrubStreet, a finalist for the 2018 Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence program, and an artist-in-residence at the Studios of Key West and Willapa Bay AiR. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Guernica, \u003cem\u003eBest American Essays, The Florida Review \u003c\/em\u003eonline, WBUR, and more.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51185920999698,"sku":"9780063257863","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5a5ee26b-b737-4292-a36b-92dbb6122655.jpg?v=1774450001","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/river-east-river-west-9780063257863","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}