Fiction
THE MERMAID'S TALE
by Lee Wei-Jing
Description
If the mermaid doesn't swim back to the sea, but instead goes ashore, she will learn to walk on two legs. Perhaps, she will even learn to dance......
In her early thirties, Summer lives alone, jobless, with little material wants. Her only passion is dancing. To be more specific, ballroom dancing. She is at an awkward position: she started too late to be competition-worthy, yet takes dancing far too seriously to be a mere pastime. Her solitary existence poses another obstacle: you need a partner in the ballroom, where "men lead, women follow" is the ironclad rule.
Under the tutelage of the legendary Donny, Summer embarks on a journey of self-discovery and, perhaps more importantly, in search of the perfect partner.
Her hopes are dashed again and again as she witnesses (and sometimes partners with) the colorful characters in the ballroom: the arrogant youngster Youlin from a dancing dynasty; the talented Grace who wants nothing but an ordinary life; and the petite Meixin, forever at war with her fiance/partner. There is of course Donny, the gay dancer ferociously committed to competition and every bit as traditional as most straight men.
As Summer continues her pursuit for Mr Right, she is forced to confront the dark memories of her past: the slut-shaming from her control-freak mother, the attempted suicide of her cousin, and the painful humiliation of sex with a classmate. She dreams of the perfect dancing body, yet dreads her own sexuality.
THE MERMAID'S TALE is a beautiful solo dance of a novel. It brings to mind the exploration of the female body in THE VEGETARIAN and the madness of the dance world of BLACK SWAN, but is told in a lighter voice at once dreamy, whimsical, and scintillating. Written in the author's darkest days, it is nevertheless a book about life and freedom.
More Information
Rights Information
World English: Scribner UK
Marketing Information
Winner of the Taipei Book Fair Award
A Mirror Weekly Book of the Year
A Kingstone Bookstore Book of the Year
Official “Books from Taiwan” Selection
Author Biography
Lee Wei-Jing (1969-2018) was a veteran art critic and journalist in Taiwan's culture circle. She was Editorial Director for China Times's literary supplement before leaving to write full time. Lee's first book, MY NAME IS HSU LIANG-LIANG (2010), won the Taipei Book Fair Award and established her as one of the most important writers of her generation. Her first novel, LA DOLCE VITA (2015), was made into a movie in 2017.
The Grayhawk Agency
Founded in 2008 by Gray Tan, we are a leading literary agency in Asia, representing over 200 foreign publishers and agents in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. We also represent a select list of Asian authors in film/tv and translation, whose works have been licensed in over 30 countries and to production companies in Asia, Europe, and Hollywood.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher ThinKingdom Media Group Ltd.
- Publication Date May 2019
- Orginal LanguageChinese complex
- ISBN/Identifier 9789869749558
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 320 TWD
- Pages232
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusPublished
- Original Language Title人魚紀
- Original Language Authors李維菁
- Copyright Year2019
- Dimensions21 x 14.8 cm
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