China, late 1970s. In the provincial town of Laspopotamos, a different day dawns: young political prisoner Gu San, once a fervent supporter of President Mao, is about to be executed because she renounced her faith in Communism. Her inconsolable mother stages her own small revolution: she decides to observe the now forbidden local custom and burn Gu San's clothes, in order to facilitate her transition to the other world. Her father, Teacher Gu, is lost in memories. Neither of them can imagine that the death of their daughter will have a tremendous impact not only on their small town but also beyond its borders.

Through small human stories of resilience, sacrifice, perversion, generosity, and faith, an exceptional novel unfolds, which is not only a record of a specific historical period but also a universal narrative of human weaknesses, power, and the belief that no sacrifice is ever lost. Yan Ge is considered one of the new great names in international literature.

"The Wandering is a great novel, a requiem for forgotten victims, as well as a sincere, carefully crafted portrait of what China used to be - very recently".
(The Observer)

"Yan does not condemn or heroize anyone here - she only gives us eloquent insight into how damaging it can be for the soul and spirit to live in an authoritarian state governed by dangerous people. Readers who enjoy dense narratives about societies almost unknown to us Westerners will love this book".
(The Washington Post)

"Yan invents a fictional city called Laspopotamos, suggesting the turbulent, murky waters of the times, and tells, with merciless vividness at times, the story of her central heroes".
(Boston Globe)

"Yan's prose exudes a remarkable gravity for her young age. The Wandering is a stunning chronicle of political betrayal in the regime of a contemporary dictatorship. It has been years since I read such a captivating and interesting novel".
(The Independent)

"The Wandering sheds light not only on the historical events of the period it narrates but also on the depths of the human soul".
(Daily Mail)