A beautiful book full of vivid description and rich imagery but all wrapped up in a subtle little bow.

The funeral Cryer is narrated by an unnamed women living in rural China. She works as a funeral Cryer, a traditional role in which she attends funerals to up the crying and therefore the love for the deceased. However, since taking up the job many people avoid her in the village as her close association with death is not what others want around her. Her husband and her don't really seem to share any love, the co-exist but don't do anything together and he spends the majority of the time playing majong. The funeral Cryer starts to become friends with the barber, although she must keep this secret because a women talking to a man, especially a women as avoided as her will make people talk.

The women in this story lives quite a mundane life, and although that could become quite tedious to read about I actually really enjoyed it. The book has a really slow pace which allowed me to discover more about the characters and the surrounding culture. I really loved reading about the practice of funeral crying and rural China.

Told in a first person narrative, The Funeral Cryer lays bare the inner thoughts of a professional, unnamed funeral cryer who lives in rural China. She takes up her profession due to her lazy husband being perpetually unemployed. Funeral crying comes with a stigma - fellow villagers believe that she carries bad luck and she is considered an outcast, not that she really seems to mind.

Living in a patriarchal society, this unnamed woman is naive. She has always lived in West Mud Village. She leads a modest life and is simple-minded. She puts up with her husband's insults and emotional abuse but she slowly begins to realise her self-worth.

Not a single character is called by their actual name, instead they are referred to either by their relationship or their occupation: the husband, the brother, the barber - highlighting the customary forms of address used in eastern society.

I really enjoyed the subtle humour in the writing and Wenyan Lu has done a wonderful job in capturing the character's thoughts and emotions. As abrupt as the ending was, I did find it to be a realistic ending. Let's face it - the protagonist wasn't going to get rid of the husband. However, I would have liked to have seen her finally getting a bank account for herself and her husband's reaction.

It's a real shame I did not enjoy this more than I did. The problem here is of course myself and my already existing knowledge about China, about some of its customs, about the condition of women in Chinese society. And if you take all that out of the story, what's left is more of a self discovery journey and rebellion beyond middle age which while enjoyable, is not enough, I guess, to make it a brilliant read.

That being said I really recommend this for anyone looking for a way to learn about another culture, about different customs and traditions, about societal dynamics and expectations. Wenyan Lu does a brilliant job of evoking a part of the world that is rather removed from the Western world and its ways. I must admit I've also become attached to the Funeral Cryer during the slow meandering of the narrative thread. I really loved how she started becoming aware of herself and her needs, and I really loved all her small acts of rebelliousness against ancient rules, against a cruel husband, against rules and expectations that are hard to brake. And gosh how annoyed was I with her brute of a husband? Don't tell anyone but I've fantasied about bashing his face in, repeatedly. And I am not a violent person!! Plus the end was totally unexpected, heart-wrenching, yet fitting! Because that's life for you and I wouldn't have expected anything less from an author who has been so true to reality through the narrative!

I must confess that I have read very little fiction set in China, so when the opportunity arose to join the blog tour for this one, and having read the synopsis, which grabbed me immediately, the die was cast. Having taken the plunge, I can confidently say that The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu is one of the most assured and engaging debut novels I have read for some time, and if any further recommendation was needed, I will certainly be seeking out more fiction within this genre.

I was incredibly impressed by the author’s style of writing, where the deliberate anonymity of her characters- incredibly few are named- works in a curious way. As much as you feel set at a distance from the characters who are defined as ‘the wife’, ‘the husband’, ‘the daughter’, ‘the barber’ and so on, this strangely serves to immerse you into their lives further. Coupled with the scant details of their physical appearance, as a reader, and therefore more enabled to conjure images from your imagination, you construct a whole host of attributes to them. As the book progressed, I had a really clear mental image of each of the characters, which the author did not supplant in my head, and this added more to the reading experience, and the overall engagement with this fascinating and emotive book.

The other aspect of the book I really hooked on to was the incredibly understated, and exceptionally dry humour, which throughout were like little flames sparking into life, sometimes at what seemed within inappropriate moments, but which brilliantly illustrated the capacity of people to seek light relief within times of stress and darkness. This was particularly true of the funeral cryer herself, whose capacity at times for utterly self deprecating humour gave us a further insight into this intelligent and mercurial woman, hemmed into her particular role as wife, mother and funeral cryer. It was beautifully done throughout as we see her growing strength of character, and her journey to a real life changing moment.

Although set in the contemporary era, within the confines of a rural village, there is an uncanny sense of this community being shielded from the modern age, shrouded in their age-old traditions, where superstition and traditional roles for men and women are grimly adhered to. Lu envelops in this community completely, balancing carefully the worth of clinging to the traditional, but equally how the modern age must be embraced and that progress is sometimes good to be embraced and adopted. The eponymous funeral cryer is indicative of this, in both her home life, and in her role as a necessary and important part of village life. What is interesting is, that as much as the service she performs in the death ritual is so important to them, it is striking that this conversely works to ostracise her from the community as a harbinger of bad luck, with the villagers unwilling to engage her, or include her in social events. I was fascinated by the death and burial rituals, and the explanations of the funeral cryers intrinsic importance in these ceremonies, to ensure the requisite level of grief is shown by those who mourn. Equally, the modern aspect of Chinese society is drip fed through the book as the funeral cryer’s daughter lives at some distance away in a bustling and progressive city, and we get perfectly placed snapshots of the difference between the mother and the daughter’s lives- the traditional and the modern- throughout the book.

In her home life as ‘the wife’ to ‘the husband’ she is consistently criticised and demeaned for her appearance and her work, although he is all too willing to take her pay, spend his time gambling at mah-jong, and embark on what she suspects with the comely ‘Hotpot’. As much as this possible affair begins to have a marked change on her domestic life, we observe her falling under the spell of another man, with this very gradually blooming relationship, handled with a real sense of care and sensitivity by the author, with a very European style of vulnerability and pathos. It is beautifully handled, which makes the denouement when it arrives all the more shocking and unexpected, but which acts as a further catalyst in the emotional growth of the funeral cryer herself.

It is always extremely satisfying to encounter a book that works so effectively on different levels, and has layers of interest to be slowly unpeeled. Throughout The Funeral Cryer, the reader is pivoted between the rural and the city, the traditional roles of marriage, and the relationships that can develop outside of it. Also the intrinsic importance of hanging on to old traditions, but equally seeking to encompass the new, and how a woman so seemingly entrenched in a loveless marriage, and in a profession that garners suspicion, can grow and transcend the boundaries that society has placed upon her. This book really held me in its thrall from start to finish, and I will follow Wenyan Lu’s writing career with much interest, given the assured and totally engaging style of this, her debut. Highly recommended.

Oh this was a beautiful little read.

The first time I picked it up I wasn't in the right mood for it so put it down again and then picked it up this weekend and read it in one sitting.
A quiet and gorgeous book, this one really got under my skin and I have been thinking about it a lot. The unnamed narrator is a middle aged woman , a professional mourner in rural China her life is fairly bleak and getting bleaker but she takes leap of faith and finds there is hope. I loved the glimpses of humour interweaved in this dark story and I really liked the narrator. Loved the location and the universality of the themes in this one. A powerful beautiful book and one I will recommend.

It’s well written but I did find it sadder than expected, the narrator (her and her family being unnamed added to this feeling) didn't like herself or her life in a way that I struggled to read as real at points. But I know even though I feel like that that it is real and important to share this story. very emotional!

Sandra "Jeanz"'s reviewApr 24, 2023 · edit
liked it

I immediately fell in love with the book cover and it was what initially attracted me to learn more about the book. I had read about the practice/tradition of funeral cryers so I was intrigued.

The main character isn't a very happy person, she used to have a double with her husband but as times change and modernised their act became outdated and no longer popular. Rather than work the fields they have been given, the fields were left to rot and the village council took them away from the main character and her husband and reassigned it to others in the community. So when their double act work dries up they are short of money. The MC then earns money by crying, singing, and wailing at people's funerals. To pay someone to cry at your funeral is a kind of status symbol and considered a good send off. The Funeral Cryer also goes on to sing some cheerier songs as the funeral progresses and people eat. The family of the deceased pay the Funeral Cryer the pre-agreed amount plus a tip, the size of which reveals how happy they were with your services and also they usually give some food to take home. The MC's husband doesn't like his wife's job and tells her she smells of death and demands she change out of her white cryers outfit and shower as soon as possible, he also says she brings bad luck. In fact the MC is kind of ostracised and kept at arms length by most people as they consider her job 'bad luck' and that being around her will bring them 'bad luck'. Having said that he is happy enough to take the envelope containing the money she has earnt and use some of it to finance his gambling on mah jong.

I disliked 'the husband' immensely, the way he speaks to the MC continually bossing her about, picking fault in everything she does and blaming her for their poor financial status, yet demanding, expecting her to hand every penny she earns. In todays modern standards he would be considered a coercive, abusive husband. He doesn't give her money for clothes or home furnishing etc merely saying they do not need these things. It is strongly hinted at that 'the husband' has been sleeping with Hotpot, possibly paying her. When Hotpots husband dies 'the husband' goes around to see her even more sometimes staying overnight! 'The husband' is usually very money orientated complaining if he thinks his Funeral Cryer wife has not earnt enough money, yet he almost demands that his wife should be the Funeral Cryer at Hotpots husbands funeral for free! Its soon revealed that Hotpot is pregnant and during a visit to her home at the insistence of 'the husband's Hotpot confesses to not knowing who the father of her baby is.
At one point 'the husband' suggests that he and the MC should pay Hotpot and adopt the baby. When the MC suggests perhaps they are too old, 'the husband' simply suggest 'the daughter' could take over care of the baby when they got older! He is determined they should have that baby.
Whilst the MC and 'the husband' have a very old fashioned/traditional marriage where the man is in charge and must be obeyed. 'The daughter' has moved away has a boyfriend whom she wants to have a baby with. This would still be frowned upon by most as the MC says at one point, 'the daughter' should have a marriage certificate first and that she will need one to get a birth certificate.
Throughout the book the MC has a flirtation with 'the barber' who styles her hair when she has a Funeral Cryer job. Even though the MC has this 'affair/non-affair' I can't help but admire the way she goes out and works hard at what is an unpopular job to provide for herself and 'the husband' The MC is trying hard to 'move with the times' where her daughter and her modern lifestyle and values yet still keeps her older traditional values when it comes to her own parents and caring for them. The MC doesn't really have a great life, she seems to spend most of it pleasing and serving others, whilst dealing with abuse and unrealistic expectations from her family along with prejudice against her job from both her family and the community.

I did end up enjoying the book though if I am completely honest there were times where I felt I wouldn't be able to finish reading it. I felt like giving up due to the way the book is written. The main characters name is not revealed, in fact very few names are used within the book except for nicknames such as one character is referred to as Hotpot. People were referred to as 'the husband' 'the daughter' 'the barber's. I found the lack of names weird and at times extremely irritating.
I really found the cultural references and traditions portrayed in the book fascinating. Basically the book is about the day to day life of the Main Character. The book did feel as though it had maybe been translated and somethings had been a little muddled or lost in translation.

Summing up, once you get past the oddness of no character names and the somewhat muddled, lost in translation feel it is an enjoyable enough read, kind of like a 'people watching' book, a look into the main characters life. It felt quite an abrupt, odd ending. It left some unanswered questions, did MC cry for the Barber at his funeral? If so what did the husband think/say. Did MC get the money she was waiting for that could give her independence from 'the husband' if that's what she wanted

The Funeral Cryer is unexpectedly profound. It is quirky, yet beautifully written; and wryly, but movingly humorous. The narrator is a fifty-something, married lady living in a small village in the depths of rural China who is ostracised for her 'bad luck-bringing' occupation as a funeral cryer. Her at times detached-seeming narration belies the depths of emotion and feelings explored. Wonderful. I highly recommend. Special thank you to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for an advance no-obligation review copy.

An interesting read exploring rural China’s customs and traditions.
The funeral cryer of the title is a professional mourner, it’s a job that instantly shuns her by the local villagers because of the stigma attached, she’ll bring them bad luck.
But needs must, they rely on the money, because of her useless, lazy husband who doesn’t want to work, but is quick enough to take the money.
The local barber seems to be the only one who interacts with her, encouraging her to take little leaps of faith and alter her own life’s path.
Beautifully written with so much emotional detail.
I found the pace of the book a little slow, and as the characters were not identified but just given descriptions such as ‘the husband’ ‘the daughter’ ‘the barber’, it made you feel detached from the narrative.
A slow meander through the mundane life of a funeral cryer, but ultimately a book about hope, that it’s never too late to re-evaluate your life and alter it’s path.
Thank you @wenyan_lu @atlanticbooks & @netgalley for the eARC

It’s easy to read and the writing is beautiful in places however I couldn’t help but feel the narrator was overly detached from her life. The way she called her husband husband and her daughter daughter made me feel that emotionally she wasn’t present in her own life.
The sense of obligation and duty to her life was overwhelming and i felt very sad for our narrator and her lack of self worth.

I feel it will be very hard for those like me in a western and more liberal world to fully be able to connect to our narrator but it offers a really insightful slice of life in a different place and time.

Although the plot wasn’t the strongest I’ve read and not ‘action packed’ it certainly packed a lot in terms of emotions and was full of heart!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for this digital copy!

I really enjoyed this story and thought the writing was simple yet has a huge impact on the reader. The book, which is set in rural China, follows an unnamed, middle-aged funeral cryer who is in a less than perfect marriage. In terms of plot, I can't say a huge amount happens. It's not a thrilling, action packed read. For me, it was an honest depiction of the life of a woman in a small Chinese village, and it made for a beautiful tale.

It may be on the slower side but it is just as profound as any fast paced page turner. Dealing with life, identity, grief, death, love and family, The Funeral Cryer truly is a thoughtful and emotive story.

* Please look up trigger warnings before reading *

The eponymous narrator of The Funeral Cryer muses on the way names constrain and mislead. They are used as signifiers of family and marital status, but her corner of the world is littered with villages named for rivers and mountains that don’t exist. Her daughter, struggling to make a life in Shanghai, adopts an English name at work. Instead, she identifies people either by their relationship to her, (“the husband”, “the daughter”) by their occupation (“the barber”) or by some other nickname (“Hotpot”).

The role of a funeral cryer is to move the mourners at a funeral to grief through speech and by crying herself, before offering up joyful singing as they make for the refreshments. The narrator, a woman in her fifties living in the village she grew up in, has drifted into this role, having tried to make a life in a city and then married a wastrel husband.

Being a funeral cryer is stigmatising and she is shunned by traditionalists in her village. But it also has its rewards – it is relatively well paid and the bereaved often confide in her.

She is at a crossroads, her marriage and her work are less than she dreamed of, and her daughter wants her to take responsibility for her (as yet unborn) grandchild and raise it in the village. She also has elderly parents.

Her one luxury is having her hair done by the local barber (most people she knows cut their own). He is an incomer to the village and, when she begins to suspect her husband of being too interested in the Hotpot (to British ears an unlikely nickname for a sex siren), it is her conversations with the barber that offer consolation.

At first I thought The Funeral Cryer was going to follow the depressingly familiar path of the abusive marriage – her husband seemed almost a caricature. However, the story of this marriage turns out to be more complicated – and more entertaining – than it first appears.

The Funeral Cryer is a fascinating read. The narrator appears to tell you everything, all the details of daily life in the village (I particularly enjoyed hearing what she cooked) but she remains somehow mysterious. She is detached, if not alienated from the people around her. (Interestingly it is her daughter who she seems to resent the most.)

She could be viewed as cold, or lonely and isolated, depending on your perspective. But there is a vein of dry humour running through her observations and even her battles with her husband.

The metaphor of the funeral cryer is a brilliant one. She helps people manifest grief when they are either repressed from showing it – or aren’t really feeling it at all. Often the bereaved themselves aren’t sure which is the case.

The end is odd and surprising. I’m still thinking about it now, not sure what to make of it – but that, to me, is a strength.
*
I received a copy of The Funeral Cryer from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you Net Galley and Atlantic Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very unique book, unlike anything I’d ever read before. Set in China, a woman in her 40s works as a funeral crier; everyone treats her badly. There isn’t much of a plot and the ending didn’t feel that satisfying. The language, however, was quite clever, such as the use of ‘the husband’ instead of ‘my’ shows lack of love towards the horrible man and highlighted how disconnected she felt in their marriage. I would say the tone of this book is quite melancholy and you feel sorry for her. I would’ve liked slightly more structure, and I’m not too keen on a book that’s main focus is the protagonist’s flaws. There were times that the main character even got irritating. Despite this, the Funeral Cryer is a well rounded novel that I would highly recommend.

A poignant and moving story, a story about a woman you cannot help loving for her strength and tenderness.
There's sadness but there's also hope in this story.
I learned something new and I met a character I loved.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

An interesting, prosaic novel about a nameless woman employed as a funeral cryer. Her life is not good, her husband is lazy, her daughter estranged and she is treated by her village because she's deemed unlucky. Plot wise, not an awful lot really happened but I did like the writing style

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

The narrator of the story (never named) is a woman in her 50s living in rural China, making a living as a funeral crier. As the story unfolds, we learn more about her family, her village, and the society she lives in. We also discover the many layers of her personality and the eternal sadness and melancholy that permeates her every action. We learn about her frustrations, her disappointments, and her slow but inevitable glide towards death, which increasingly feels like the only thing she has to look forward to.

The style of the book is somewhat dry, and it's hard to say if it's the translation, or the style of the author. Either way, it's telegraphic and, more than anything, creates an impression that this is more a journal than anything else. This aspect of the book creates an impression of shallowness, but helps focus the attention on the emotions and the tribulations of our narrator. In some ways, it's like a black and white portrait, where the contrast allows the reader to pay attention to every single wrinkle and blemish, and not get distracted by anything extraneous.

Perhaps this is what made the book elicit such a strong emotional response in me. I oscillated between angry, upset, sad, and outraged as I continued reading. The mindset of the narrator, and the relationship between her environment (upbringing, political system, societal norms) and her ability, or lack thereof, to thrive, filled me with a deep sense of hopelessness. It was nihilistic on multiple levels, and went from dark to darker as the book progressed. Nothing bad really happened (no crisis, tragedy etc), but the blunted emotions of the narrator had a profound effect on me throughout the story. This was a novel experience for me, and in this sense - I found the book incredibly powerful and impactful.

On a more content oriented level (and less emotional) the book also did a great job in describing the emotional (and otherwise) plight of people in rural China, especially those in middle age. It is an intimate glimpse into a world I've never spent time considering in earnest, and its depravity shocked me. It is an important topic, and something that I recommend anyone interested in China, or psycho-sociology, read.

While I was impacted by the book, and I feel it will be memorable (this is one of those books that stays with you), I also found it difficult to read and enjoy. Perhaps parts of it were just too foreign, perhaps it was difficult for me to open myself up fully to the experience without myself becoming depressed, but whatever the reason is, I felt one step removed from the story as I was reading it. I completely realise this says more about me than the book itself, but it is what it is.

I do recommend it, as per above, but probably not for anyone looking for anything relaxing or light. It's a serious book and requires a balanced emotional state to fully appreciate.

This was certainly a memorable book. The narrator is a woman who earns a living in a small village in China by being a professional funeral cryer. This doesn't have a direct equivalent in British culture, but means that she leads a "researched biographical" lamentation for the family of the deceased and leads the crying. It does mean however that people superstitiously avoid her as she "smells" of death. The nearest equivalent that I could think of would be a wariness of undertakers.

Her life is confined to the village and the family. We are introduced to a man whom she calls "the husband". He is not a sympathetic character as he doesn't work but seems to play mah jong all the time without thinking of her wellbeing at all. She suspects him of having an affair and marital sex is not making love but a duty for her. She is maybe controlled by him, but gradually starts to question her life with him and what she wants altogether.

A local barber taking an interest in her makes her question her marriage.

I did wonder where the plot was going to go after she acquired a new knife...

The narrator is an unreliable one as we see before she does that her marriage isn't bringing her satisfaction and what the consequences of the barber's interest will be. We infer what her relationship is with her daughter is and also how she is constricted by her upbringing and culture. Her tone is mostly flat (almost like Klara's in Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun ) until the changes begin and then passion begins to creep in.

She moves from being an observer of her life and those of others to being a more active participant making her own choices.

I enjoyed reading more about Chinese culture, history , food and customs etc through the narrator as well as changes happening in China through the story of the daughter.

I found her story absorbing and very vivid. It's easy to have her in your mind whilst also observing the irony that develops from her unreliable narration simultaneously.

A memorably "quiet" book which draws you in magnetically.

This was a heart wrenching yet strangely also comical historical depiction of the tradition of funeral cryers in rural China and what it was like to live as one. Although not much occurs plot wise at it is mostly more of an insight into China's cultural differences and the struggles of women, especially the main character who is thought to be unlucky and "followed" by death because of her job. I found it really interesting to learn more about rural China and look into this villages life and the sorrow that surrounds people and the patriarchal struggles women have to deal with. There are also some quite dark themes such as marital rape however I do believe it adds to the message of the book and gives a big impact on the reader.

I really loved this book, it was relatively short and not a lot happened, but it really packed a punch! Although the unnamed funeral cryer lived in rural China her thoughts and, often amusing, feelings about life, death, love, family and women's role in society were profoundly universal and beautifully expressed.
Thank you to netgalley and Atlantic Books for an advance copy of this book