Set against the turbulent backdrop of societal upheaval in the early 20th-century China, City of Fiction (forthcoming Apr 2025) by Yu Hua and artfully translated by Todd Foley, intertwines themes of love, loss, transformation, and the clash between the traditional and modern worlds. It’s a translation of Wencheng, Yu’s 2021 novel.

The story follows Lin Xiangfu, a quiet man from the north who sets out on an arduous journey southward. With his newborn, he sets out in search of Xiaomei, his wife and the child's mother, who has inexplicably disappeared. The novel is divided into distinct parts, with one part focusing on Lin and his early encounter with Xiaomei, followed by the story of his journey and the other part following Xiaomei’s story. Some events occur concurrently. It started out slow, but got emotional and even brutal.

Despite a rather complex narrative, the novel remains deeply human; a mesmerising, thought-provoking read that reveals character misery and challenges the boundaries between fiction and reality. What does the titular city refer to? It’s a mysterious city, maybe even fictitious. The story of Lin and Xiaomei comes together (or falls apart?) eventually.

Yu’s prose is both poetic and evocative, painting a world that is at once familiar and foreign. The descriptions of the dying crafts and vanishing customs in a rapidly modernising China serve as a powerful metaphor for the characters’ own transformations.

This is a heartbreaking, extraordinary novel that is gripping despite its slow pace. I love the relationships between the characters, who are so in depth and evoke strong emotions from you. Parts of this book were very difficult to read but I enjoyed the journey. I will be recommending this book to others.

City of fiction is less fictional than one might think. Yu Hua takes us one a journey between traditions and the new world. Change that can happen gradually, but for some it feels like the world they know crumbles before them at an excruciating fast pace. This story is gripping and gives so much to think about, the characters are well written and the story is easy to follow.
I hope to read more from this author in the future.

Yu Hua’s *City of Fiction* is a mesmerizing novel that showcases his signature blend of vivid storytelling and deep philosophical insight. Through rich prose and a dynamic narrative, the book explores themes of fate, identity, and the power of storytelling itself. Set against a backdrop of societal change, Yu Hua crafts an immersive world filled with intriguing characters and unexpected turns. With its thought-provoking structure and lyrical style, *City of Fiction* is a captivating read that challenges perceptions and lingers in the mind long after the final page.

In general, it is an interesting book, with the story of Lin Xiangfu, who started as a woodworker but went south looking for the mother of his child; he ended up in Xizhen, a city that then becomes the center of the fiction.
The novel shifts into horror mode at times, and is hilarious at others; romantic scenes follow epic pursuits, and the main characters fight nature, bandits, and sometimes their own weaknesses.
It is divided in two parts that occur more or less simultaneously; the first part focuses on Lin, the second on Xiaomei, the mother of his “little one”.
However, I am not totally sure that putting that second part after the first really works. When you arrive at the end of the first part, Xiaomei is mostly forgotten, and discovering what happens to her does not really pay off. Also, there is a bit of first-person action by Lin in this second part. While this would feel right at home, yin-and-yang style if they were interspersed, it looks like a bit or retcon here.
The convergence of the two threads in the final pages does not work that well either. While it Is well within the general theme of the book, persons and lives bumping into each other as snowflakes in a storm, it feels anticlimactic when you get there.
There are also a few typos. Anyway, I liked it and would recommend it heartily.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of early 20th-century China, City of Fiction by Yu Hua is a sprawling narrative that explores themes of loss, transformation, and the clash between tradition and modernity. With the old empire crumbling and the winds of change sweeping across the nation, the story follows a quiet man from the North who embarks on a journey south through a relentless snowstorm, carrying with him a newborn child and searching for a woman— the child's mother— who has mysteriously vanished.

What unfolds is a story that is part historical journey, part exploration of personal redemption. The man’s quest leads him to a city that doesn’t exist in the way he expects it to, a place caught between memories and reality. As the narrative weaves between the man’s quest and the story of the woman he searches for, the reader is drawn into a world where the boundaries between the personal and the collective history blur. Yu Hua masterfully juxtaposes the profound inner journeys of these two characters against the sweeping changes taking place in the country at large.

The novel is not merely about the individuals within it, but also about the world they inhabit—a world where ancient crafts are dying out, where old customs are vanishing, and where storytelling itself is evolving. It’s a tale about how people adapt to the winds of change, how they cling to the past even as they are swept along by the present. Through vivid, complex characters and rich, evocative prose, Hua takes readers on a journey through a world of violence, love, friendship, and above all, the inexorable march of time.

City of Fiction is an epic exploration of the tension between nostalgia for what is lost and the relentless pull of the future. With its intricate plot, surprising twists, and a profound meditation on the act of storytelling itself, this novel is a haunting and unforgettable read that examines the human condition within the broader context of historical upheaval.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.