The Woman Back from Moscow: In Pursuit of Beauty

Praise

“[Ha Jin] conveys in supple prose what Beijing inevitably will regard as too much truth about the history of the [Chinese Communist Party]…with a deft pen fueled by reading, imagination, and empathy, he reveals mental life…the most extraordinary achievement of the novel is its brilliantly credible evocation of the ordinary.” —New York Review of Books

“An epic historical novel of communist China, illuminated through the life of an extraordinary real-life woman…The redemption of a historical figure whose life ended in political disgrace.” —Kirkus Reviews 

“The Woman Back from Moscow is a brilliant historical novel of a young woman who dares to pursue her artistic dream amid the political shadow of China from the late 1930s to the 1960s, a poignant revelation of Chinese affinity to Russian culture and politics, and a penetrating study of the powerful Communist Party leaders, whose love and lust spell the rise and fall of those close to them, all told in Ha Jin’s signature prose, simple yet hypnotic. The Woman Back from Moscow reminds me of Wolf Hall, in its epic range and intensity and importance. Readers of historical fiction and literary fiction will relish this masterpiece.” —Weina Dai Randel, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Last Rose of Shanghai and Night Angels

“The Woman Back from Moscow is an enthralling tale of courage, conviction, and resilience. Ha Jin’s evocative portrayal of Sun ‘Yomei’ Weishi—an idealistic actress turned stage director—reflects his meticulous research and powerful imagination. During the Cultural Revolution, Sun gets caught in the cross hairs of Jiang Ching, Mao Zedong’s vengeful wife. Deeply compelling.” —Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City

“The Woman Back from Moscow is a rich and fascinating work that questions what art can and should be in times of tremendous political and social upheaval. Chronicling one brilliant woman’s turbulent artistic career, and her unrelenting pursuit of her own aesthetic ideals, this story also brings monumental figures like Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Jiang Ching down to their true, smaller-than-human scale. Ha Jin’s disarmingly straightforward yet fastidiously imagined prose looks clearly into the full range of human desire and pettiness. This is an epic undertaking by an essential Chinese and American writer.” —Meng Jin, author of Self-Portrait with Ghost and Little Gods