In this literary thriller two friends born in the 1980s seek to understand the experiences
of their parents and grandparents during one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history
and the terrible crime that connects their families. Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi go way back. Both
hailing from dysfunctional families they grew up together in a Chinese provincial capital in
the 1980s. Now many years later the childhood friends reunite and discover how much they
still have in common. Both have always been determined to follow the tracks of their
grandparents' generation to the heart of a mystery that perhaps should have stayed buried. What
exactly happened during that rainy night in 1967 in the abandoned water tower? Zhang Yueran's
layered and hypnotic prose reveals much about the unshakable power of friendship and the
existence of hope. Hers is a unique fresh voice representing a new generation of important
young writers from China shedding a different light on the country's recent past.
