Lulu Wang - captivating storyteller

Lulu Wang

Lulu Wang (1960) was born in Peking and immigrated to Holland in 1986, when she was 25. She learned to speak Dutch within a year and soon after decided to write her fiction in this new language. Her literary debut was in 1997 with Het lelietheater (The Lily Theatre), one of the best sold debut novels of all time. Het Lelietheater has been translated into 19 languages and received the prestigous Nonino-Award in Italy in 1998. Lulu Wang has also written several other novels and two short stories. More than 1.2 million copies of her work have been sold worldwide.

Wild Roses (Wilde rozen)

Twelve year old Qiangwei ('Wild Roses') grows up during the Cultural Revolution. She hungers for friendship and love, but even more for the warmth of her absent parents. She has an uneasy relationship with her mother, who is interned in a re-education camp and whom she sees only twice a week. Her father is in the army and stationed halfway across the country. Qiangwei's changing body makes her restless, and the political and social developments in China add to the hardship in her life. She tries to find answers to her many questions, but everyone seems to have a different version of the truth.

Just like The Lily Theater, Wild Roses is based on Lulu Wang's own childhood in China. In Wild Roses Wang places the adventures and opinions of a twelve year old girl next to those of her family and friends, and offers a kaleidoscopic image of a turbulent time for her motherland and herself.

480 pages | ISBN 978-90-225-5584-2 | 2010

English sample translation available on request