top of page
IMG_20200427_145147.jpg

BRIGANTINE

 

​

William, who was the friend of Yu Su, a Chinese student studying abroad, and her boyfriend Andrew Davies, died while he was deep sea diving. After the accident, Yu Su went to Great Britain to search for a book that William had written. In the library of Oxford University, she found the book that apparently had been very popular; it was stocked out of its place, together with a book about psychoanalysis, and almost all of the pages had been ripped out. This was quite a surprise to Yu Su and she decided, together with Andrew, to search for the lost pages. Finally they found the truth about William's death, and decided to republish the book against his last wish which was to burn the manuscript.

_edited_edited.png

There are many literary works about the Second World War or post-war years, but works by a Chinese writer trying to understand the European narrative are rare. Marvel at the author’s profound knowledge of European history, religion, philosophy, art, technology etc.

Xu Jianping, Professor Department of Chinese, Department of Translation, Brussels Free University

​​

The dialogues in ‘Brigantine’ make you realize how much trauma WWII caused (and keeps causing). You experience the impact on the interpersonal relationships of the characters. And the more you learn about the circumstances, the more you start to feel compassion for all the characters, even the ones you had less sympathy for at the start. The book is also much more than a novel with two surprising storylines. The two narratives complement each other (but some readers might prefer to read them separately). Readers who like variations in style will appreciate the artistic patchwork of diary fragments, letters, poetry, drama ... And along the way you learn a lot about history, philosophy, religion... and marine life.

Anneke Stoffels, Belgian journalist & translator

​

More than once I turned the cover of the book to check the author’s name. Xie Lingjie is definitely a woman’s name. Nevertheless, the extraordinary breath shown in the book is not seen in the works of well-known female writers such as Zhang Ailing, Bin Xin or Ding Ling.

Li Hou Nanxi, Writer, New York

 

_edited_edited.png
MY BOOKS
bottom of page