Books
Short Listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize
In the mid-1990s, an American teenager, named Lao K in Chinese, stands on Coal Hill, a park in Beijing, a loop of rope in her hand. Will she assist her Chinese homestay mother, Li-Ming, who is dying of cancer, in ending her life, or will she choose another path? Twenty years later, Lao K receives a book written by Li-Ming called “Empire of Glass,” a narrative that chronicles the lives of Li-Ming and her husband, Wang, in pre and post-revolutionary China over the last half of the twentieth century. Lao K begins translating the story, which becomes the novel we are reading. But, as translator, how can Lao K separate fact from fiction, and what will her role be in the book’s final chapter?
A grand, experimental epic—Lao K’s story is told in footnotes that run throughout the book—that chronicles the seismic changes in China over the last half century through the lens of one family’s experiences, Empire of Glass is an investigation into the workings of human memory and the veracity of oral history that pushes the boundaries of language and form in stunning and unforgettable ways.
What People Are Saying
“Empire of Glass is a bold and luminous book, a novel that captures the great upheavals of history and the smallest fissures in family life with equal attention, intimacy, and insight.”
— National Book Award and PEN/ Faulkner finalist Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
“Kaitlin Solimine’s lingering plot is a brilliant exploration of self-perception, changing identities, love, and idealism… Between urban and rural settings, characters who quote Mao and those who inwardly resist him, literary passages that mirror or mask emotions, Empire of Glass is a provocative labyrinth.”
—Foreword Reviews
“It’s a pleasure to read Empire of Glass. Nearly each sentence is breathtakingly beautiful, and I have the impression that Kaitlin Solimine must have written the novel calligraphically, caressing each letter and image… If I hadn’t known who wrote the novel, I would have thought, this must be Ha Jin, but writing more beautifully than usual. I didn’t know he was in addition to being a good novelist such a damned fine poet: so now I am saying that about Kaitlin—in addition to being a great poet, she’s a damned fine novelist.”
—Josip Novakovich, Man Booker Prize Finalist
“Pushing the boundaries of the novel form, this is a gorgeous experimental work.”
— BookRiot
“Intriguing and touching, Empire of Glass is a boldly imagined work that succeeds with its stylistic risks as a great novel and also a compelling read!”
—Heid W. Durrow, author of the New York Times bestseller The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
“Stunning and incisive, Empire of Glass will dazzle you with its meditations on history, poetry, love, and family.”
— Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award recipient Vanessa Hua
Empire of Glass Book Club Materials
Is your book club interested in reading Empire of Glass? Download accompanying materials here!
Sleeping Stones
A Purple Dragonfly Book Award winner for environmental children's book of the year, Sleeping Stones is a story about a driven little owl who wants to make a difference. The book is based on the Chinese mythology of goddess Nuwa and is a picture books app for kids is available in English+Chinese, English+French bilingual editions. Suggested age: 5~8.