Overview

Spanning decades of seismic change in post-Cultural Revolution China, And The Ancestors Sing is a sweeping, multigenerational novel of resilience, sacrifice, and the unbreakable pull of home, perfect for fans of Pachinko and The Island of Sea Women. In 1978, as the Cultural Revolution fades into history, Lei is bartered away into marriage for two cartons of cigarettes and a handful of eggs. She finds herself in the unfamiliar village of her new husband where she is met with indifference. When a disaster upends their world, Lei and her husband are forced to join China’s vast wave of city-bound, rural migrants, leaving behind children whom they may never see again. Sixteen-year-old LuLu arrives in Shanghai with nothing but ambition. Denied a factory job and determined to keep her family from starving, she turns to sex work, navigating the dangers of the city’s underbelly with sharp wit and a fierce will to survive. When a powerful client offers her a chance at security, LuLu faces an impossible choice: seize a future that could lift her family from poverty, or risk everything for a life on her own terms. Immersive, evocative, and impeccably detailed, And The Ancestors Sing is a sweeping, multigenerational story of sacrifice, survival, and the unbreakable pull of home.

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9781998672202

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Reviews

""Chaddah ... writes with clarity and warmth ... illuminating mental health struggles and the way they impact people's lives ... [And The Ancestors Sing] is a novel that brings to life ... the abstractions of globalization and its impact on urban and rural China.""  -- Kirkus 

Author Information

Born in London to an East Indian father and a Malaysian Chinese mother, Radha grew up in Kenya, the UK, and the US. She majored in Biology at the University of Chicago, earned medical and law degrees at the University of Illinois, and a Master of Public Health at Harvard University. She completed Internal Medicine residency training, and later practiced at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston. Along the way, Radha developed a deep commitment to patient advocacy, to “meeting the patients where they are”, and to combating stigma around mental health. During these busy years, Radha married her wonderful husband and best friend, Avery, and had two terrific daughters, Yani and Ayo.  Life did not slow down! Radha and her family moved, over the course of 20 years, from Boston to NYC to Taipei to Shanghai to Beijing to Princeton, and finally to Philadelphia. GO BIRDS! Each of these places was filled with amazing people, wonderful culture, and incredible personal and work experiences. Radha worked as a primary care physician in Boston, NYC and Beijing; worked with the China CDC to co-write the book, HIV/ AIDS: Beyond the Numbers; and provided mental healthcare to patients in several states as a telemedicine doctor upon settling in Philadelphia. Especially treasured by Radha are the first-hand stories she has been privileged to hear from patients, colleagues, friends, and family alike. These stories, and the storytellers that birthed them, fuel Radha’s passion to write. Radha enjoys learning new Mandarin characters, tackling novice knitting projects, painting with watercolors and acrylics, catching a live, stand-up comedy show with Avery, trying out new recipes with Yani and Ayo, and, of course, jotting down story notes for her next writing project.

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