A Chinese woman comes to London to start a new life - away from her dead parents, away from her old world. She knew she would be lonely, but will her new relationship with the Australian-British-German landscape architect bring her closer to this land she has chosen, will their love give her a home?
A Chinese woman comes to London to start a new life - away from her dead parents, away from her old world. She knew she would be lonely, but will her new relationship with the Australian-British-German landscape architect bring her closer to this land she has chosen, will their love give her a home?A Lover's Discourse is an exploration of romantic love told through fragments of conversations between the two lovers. Playing with language and the cultural differences that her narrator encounters as she settles into life in a Britain still reeling from the Brexit vote. Xiaolu Guo shows us how this couple navigate these differences, and their romance, whether on their unmoored houseboat or in a cramped and stifling flat share in east London... Suffused with a wonderful sense of humour, this intimate and tender novel asks universal questions: what is the meaning of home when we've been uprooted? How can a man and woman be together? And how best to be a woman and a mother? Xiaolu Guo was born in south China. She studied at the Beijing Film Academy and published six books in China before moving to London in 2002. Her books include Village of Stone which was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth which was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and I Am China which was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Her recent memoir, Once Upon a Time in the East, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award, the Jhalak Prize and the Rathbones Folio Award 2018, and was a Sunday Times Book of the Year.Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is the author ofHarmless Like Youthe winner of The Authors Club First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award.It was aNew York TimesEditors Choice and anNPR2017 Great Read. Her second novel,Starling Days,was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award.She is the editor of theGo Home!anthology. And her short work has appeared in Granta, The Atlantic, and Radio 4.Tickets are 20 including a discounted copy ofA Lovers Discourse, 10 general admission, or 8 students and Plus cardholders. All tickets including booking fees and a glass of wine/soft drink
