Frog: A Novel

Frog: A Novel

<b>A <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> TOP BOOK OF 2015<br /><br /><i>WASHINGTON POST </i>NOTABLE BOOK<br /><br />The author of <i>Red Sorghum</i> and China’s most revered and controversial novelist returns with his first major publication since winning the Nobel Prize</b><p>In 2012, the Nobel committee confirmed Mo Yan’s position as one of the greatest and most important writers of our time. In his much-anticipated new novel, Mo Yan chronicles the sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nation’s controversial one-child policy.</p><p><i>Frog </i>opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Gugu—the beautiful daughter of a famous doctor and staunch Communist—is revered for her skill as a midwife. But when her lover defects, Gugu’s own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decides to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping tabs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women as many as eight months pregnant.</p><p>In sharply personal prose, Mo Yan depicts a world of desperate families, illegal surrogates, forced abortions, and the guilt of those who must enforce the policy. At once illuminating and devastating, it shines a light into the heart of communist China.</p><br /><br /><br /><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>