The Vagrants

themes -- is matched only by the measured story telling.' Independent "The Vagrants" is an important novel, a requiem for forgotten victims and a careful, honest portrait of what China has been, even as it emerges from the shadow of those years.' Stephanie Merrit, Observer 'The power of precise portraiture underpins Li's first, dazzlingly successful, foray into novel-writing.' TLS 'The Vagrants is told in an understated and unsentimental voice, with echoes of the elegance of the Irish writer William Trevor, whom the author thanks in her acknowledgement' FT 'Yiyun Li is a remarkable writer, this harrowing story is told with an exquisite touch and great humanity' Psychologies magazine Praise for 'A Thousand Years of Good Prayers': 'She is utterly at home in the short story as shaped by Chekhov and Maupassant, in the tones currently used by William Trevor or Alice Munro. Her own talent is to deal with people who have no obvious power or importance, who have been disappointed in small ways which Li manages to make seem heart-wrenching and full of strange resonance!a writer of great but quiet ambition!What concerns her most is the large matter of love, in all its twists and turns, and time itself, and how little we reckon with it, and disappointment in all its strange variations, and levels of deep emotion and attachment buried in silence and misunderstanding.' Colm Toibin, New York Review of Books 'Li's writing is beautifully spare and controlled.' Times 'Yiyun's confidence as a storyteller lends her fiction a traditional air, but there's nothing old fashioned about her perspective!When I've sampled other recent Chinese writing, I've had a sense of western publishers being seduced by the novelty of it all, snapping up authors with dramatic histories and slim talents. Yiyun is the real deal!Yiyun has the talent, the vision and the respect for life's insoluble mysteries to be a truly fine writer.' Michel Faber, Guardian 'A writer of rare perceptiveness and originality.' Claire Armitstead 'Li has a remarkable talent for telling the story of the whole of China through apparently insignificant lives!With this small collection, she has already become one of the most important Chinese voices of our time.' New Statesman 'I am not alone in thinking the stories are masterpieces.' Colm Toibin, Irish Times 'Wonderfully inventive.' Sunday Tribune 'Her stories are effortlessly unsettling, often resolutely strange even as they are affectingly human.' Belinda McKeon, Irish Times 'Li's moving, engrossing stories are particular in their place -- they could only happen in that culture, under that regime -- but universal in their themes and their relevance.' Observer 'Vibrant, assured prose.' Saturday Guardian 'Exemplary in their pertinent detail and insightful observation. A novel by Yiyun Li would be more than welcome.' Scotland on Sunday 'Mesmerising!Timeless tales of love, hope and fate against a backdrop of dramatic change.' Daily Mail 'A wonderfully well-written, fascinating and affecting collection of stories about modern China.' Evening Standard (Books of the Year) 'Poignant, breathing portraits so sharply drawn, so uncompromisingly told in her own voice, they are as luminous, revealing and unforgettable as a Vermeer interior.' Glasgow Herald 'A short collection of beautifully subtle portraits.' Marie Claire (Marie Claire Book Club winner)