Lotus

October 3, 2016
After the memoir Socialism Is Great!, Zhang returns to the landscape of a rapidly changing China in this debut novel, which explores the daily life and inner world of Lotus, a young prostitute living in the city of Shenzhen, who supports her family in their rural village. Along with three other ji (prostitutes) of varying ages, Lotus lives at the massage parlor where she works and soon befriends Bing, a kind, cultured photographer who is staying nearby while he compiles a series of portraits of ji, including some of Lotus. After Bing accompanies Lotus to visit her family, their friendship deepens and their attraction to each other grows. But once Bing’s photographs of Lotus are published in a national magazine and his engagement to her is exposed, their involvement threatens his standing in the Communist party. Although written in English, the book retains a distinctly Chinese vernacular, which, on one hand, helps to build the world of the novel, and yet, on the other, often reads like an awkward translation. Early on, during a night out with several wealthy clients, “the other men had taken their girls to different vehicles.... Lotus felt out of place in the luxurious setting.” An encounter between Lotus and Bing is described as follows: “Inside their snow-white mosquito net, their sweat-lubricated bodies entwined together like eels.” Though Lotus’s story is compelling, the stilted prose often proves distracting.

A Chinese girl working in a Shenzhen brothel to support her family back home looks for a way out.Between the constant police harassment, the danger of disease, and the unremitting awfulness of the work itself, prostitution is not a profession Lotus hopes to pursue indefinitely. But now that her honor is indelibly soiled, the only obvious escape route is to become a paid concubine. Unfortunately, the man who would like her to be his mistress has a crappy apartment and offers a meager allowance. A more successful and attractive prospect keeps coming around but hasn't offered anything concrete. As she sits in a clinic studying a poster depicting the ravages of STDs and listening to a co-worker's cries during an abortion, she wonders about the future. "Would Mimi ever become a mother?...Could a ji ever return to a normal life? The cloud of doubt wrapped around Lotus as she sat opposite the gruesome poster." Fortunately, there is one bright spot: her friendship with a divorced photojournalist called Bing who is profiling her for an article on the sex industry. Their story unfolds in chapters with names that sound like fortune-cookie messages: "In Nature There Are Unexpected Storms, and in Life Unpredictable Vicissitudes," "Near to Rivers, We Recognize Fish, Near to Mountains, We Recognize the Songs of Birds," and "Past Experience, If Not Forgotten, Is a Guide for The Future." Zhang's debut novel follows a well-received memoir (Socialism is Great!, 2008); she lives in Beijing and wrote this novel in English. While the sex industry setting is nominally racy, there is a naive, simplistic quality to the story and the prose. A Book of Little Depth May Still Find Some Readers. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 15, 2016
To everyone in her village, Lotus is a success: she wears glamorous clothes, has a lucrative job at a restaurant in Shenzhen, and sends all her earnings home to ensure her brother, Shadan, can attend university. What Lotus can't bear to reveal is that she's actually a ji, a working girl at the Moonflower Massage Parlor. When Lotus is arrested, she calls the first person who comes to mind: Bing, a quiet photographer whose artistic interest in prostitution has lead him to form a protective bond with some of the girls in the neighborhood. Zhang's debut novel follows Lotus and Bing's relationship as it unfolds, first as a friendship, then, slowly, as something more. Though the relationship is central to the novel, the story belongs fully to Lotus. With expert pacing and description, Zhang vividly draws Lotus' present and past, weaving together time lines, characters, and subplots that eventually reveal Lotus to be far more than the sweet, reserved girl she appears to be. At once immersive and delicate, Zhang's writing takes Lotus to unexpected places as she searches forand perhaps findswhat true freedom means.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2016

Though this is Zhang's first novel, she's already made a name for herself with "Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China, published in eight countries. About a streetwalker in Shenzhen, it was inspired by Zhang's grandmother, who was sold into a brothel in her youth.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016

Author of the 2008 memoir Socialism Is Great, journalist Zhang was inspired by her grandmother's experiences to write this first novel, which takes a compelling look at the issue of prostitution in China. The chapters alternate between photojournalist Hu Bingbing (aka Bing) and his star subject, Lotus (aka ChouChou and Luo Xiangzhu). Lotus's desire for a better life and hope of assisting her family financially comes at a price when she leaves her village for Shenzhen, where she ends up working at the Moonflower Massage Parlor. As the novel progresses, readers find out more about the friendship forged between Bing and Lotus, which they eventually take to the next level. They become a solid couple and move in together, much to the dismay of Bing's ex-wife, Mei, and Lotus's former patron, Family Treasure. VERDICT Providing a different view of life for "working women" in China, the novel is somewhat reminiscent of the movie Pretty Woman but without all the glitz. Easy to read and containing fully drawn characters and story lines, Zhang's first foray into fiction does not disappoint. [See Prepub Alert, 7/11/16.]--Shirley Quan, Orange Cty. P.L., Santa Ana, CA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.