The author of Red Sorghum and China's most revered and controversial novelist re
turns with his first major publication since winning the Nobel Prize
In 2012, t
he Nobel committee confirmed Mo Yan's position as one of the greatest and most i
mportant writers of our time. In his much-anticipated new novel, Mo Yan chronicl
es the sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nation's controv
ersial one- child policy.
"Frog "opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who
plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Gugu--the beautiful daughter of a f
amous doctor and staunch Communist--is revered for her skill as a midwife. But w
hen her lover defects, Gugu's own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decide
s to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping ta
bs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women a
s many as eight months pregnant.
In sharply personal prose, Mo Yan depicts a wo
rld of desperate families, illegal surrogates, forced abortions, and the guilt o
f those who must enforce the policy. At once illuminating and devastating, it sh
ines a light into the heart of communist China.
