“An exquisitely beautiful book about that uncertain border between girlhood and womanhood, between passion and desire, a country only too familiar to all women. Fan Wu’s story swept me away.”
—Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street
“February Flowers is a swift coming of age tale…. Fan Wu is a gifted writer and a promising new voice, and her characters come alive in this wonderful debut novel.”
—Porter Shreve, author of Drives Like a Dream and The Obituary Writer
“Characters, plot, and Chinoiserie combine in a debut novel that shines…animated by unforgettable characters, and infused with emotional honesty, Fan Wu’s first novel is moving, sexy, and impossible to put down. Her style is deceptively simple, her prose confident, clear and precise…a brilliant debut.”
—The Bulletin (Australia)
“A fresh, original work that strikes a fine balance between intimacy and restraint, and shatters several stereotypes along the way…. The author’s control of her subject matter is impressive, capturing perfectly the claustrophobia and obsessive passion that youthful friendships can assume, without ever rendering Ming’s concerns as self-absorption…. The novel’s ultimate appeal, however, lies in the universality of its themes—the pain and pleasure of growing up, and the discovery of sex and the accompanying wonder and fear; few will not recall their own adolescent pangs while reading February Flowers.”
—The Asian Review of Books
“An original and unforgettable story. Just like the flowers referred to in the title, Fan Wu’s novel is brimming with passion, vitality, and hope. The girls in this book are the daughters and granddaughters of The Good Women of China, and are products of the society both modern, expansive, and communistically introvert.”
—Xinran, author of The Good Women of China
“Fresh and original.”
—The Age (Australia)
“Gently paced…an elegant book.”
—The Sydney Morning Herald
“Fan Wu’s debut novel captures the chasm between both the old and the modern of her motherland.”
—Sun Daily (Malaysia)
“A finely wrought first novel…deeply compelling.”
—Bangkok Post
“Wu has created a story full of emotional honesty that has engaging, complex characters who must negotiate challenging and uncertain situations.”
—Radio Singapore International
“A winning debut…engrossing, beautifully written…sophisticated blend of lyricism, humour, sexual titillation and earnest exploration of being and becoming.”
—The Straits Times (Singapore)
“First-time author Fan Wu’s elegant pacing and tidy, vivid prose captures China on the cusp of its economic boom, with the characters caught in the social eddies that curl around it…. However universal coming of age stories may be, few capture a country’s zeitgeist, as Wu’s work does.”
—That’s Beijing magazine
“Engaging…strong and intransigent.”
—Taipei Times