River East, River West

A dark and glittering debut that traces a mixed family's troubled trajectory through developing China.

Shanghai, 2007: feeling betrayed by her American mother's engagement to their rich landlord Lu Fang, fourteen-year-old Alva begins plotting her escape. But the exclusive American School - a potential ticket out - is not what she imagined.

Qingdao, 1985: newlywed Lu Fang works as a lowly shipping clerk. Though he aspires to a bright future, he is one of many casualties of harsh political reforms. Then China opens up to foreigners and capital, and Lu Fang meets a woman who makes him question what he should settle for...

A mesmerising reversal of the east-west immigrant narrative set against China's economic boom, River East, River West is a deeply moving exploration of race, identity and family, of capitalism's false promise and private dreams.

PRAISE FOR RIVER EAST, RIVER WEST

'A novel about reinvention. It's original, it's funny, and it's sometimes heartbreaking as well' - Monica Ali, bestselling author of Love Marriage (judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024)

'An incredible novel that immediately absorbs you into the lives of a complicated mixed family during China's economic boom. Rey Lescure writes beautifully about the unfairness of who gets opportunities and who doesn't, the complexities of family life and the agony of living up to expectations' - Luan Goldie, author of Nightingale Point

'Aube Rey Lescure's beautiful debut makes us feel the inexhaustible mystery of other lives. A moving portrait of the love between a mother and daughter, River East, River West portrays, too, the powerlessness of our loves against the riptides of history' - Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness