Oracle Bone

Kwa, Lydia

ISBN 10: 1551526999 / ISBN 13: 9781551526997

Published by Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017

About this Item

Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # 18255059-75

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Oracle Bone
• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1551526999
• ISBN 13: 9781551526997
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 0.862 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

Life in seventh-century China teems with magic, fox spirits, and demons; there is a fervent belief that the extraordinary resides within the lives of both commoners and royalty. During the years when the empress Wu Zhao is gaining ascendancy in the Tang court, her evil-minded lover Xie becomes obsessed with finding and possessing the oracle bone, a magical object that will bestow immortal powers on him. Standing in his way is Qilan, an eccentric Daoist nun who rescues an orphaned girl named Ling from being sold into slavery; Qilan takes her under her wing, promising to train her so she may avenge her parents’ murders. In another part of the city, a young monk named Harelip questions his faith and his attraction to other men as he helps the elder monk Xuanzang to complete his translation of the Heart Sutra, the sacred Buddhist scripture. Meanwhile, as the mysteries and powers of the missing oracle bone are revealed, it remains to be seen whether Qilan will be able to stop Xie from gaining possession of the magical bone, and at what cost.

This extraordinary magic-realist novel by Singapore-born author Lydia Kwa employs and subverts traditional tropes of Chinese mythology to tell a tale of greed, faith, and female empowerment with a wickedly modern sensibility.

Lydia Kwa is a novelist, poet, visual artist, and a psychologist in private practice. Her novel This Place Called Absence was shortlisted for the Books in Canada First Novel Award.

About the Author

Lydia Kwa: Lydia Kwa is a writer and psychologist. She is the author of the novels This Place Called Absence (Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award finalist), The Walking Boy (Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize finalist), and Pulse, as well as two books of poetry, The Colours of Heroines and sinuous.