"A powerful novel set in a Hong Kong that feels remarkably universal." —Mohsin Hamid author of
Exit West "A dazzling page-turning novel...Gripping specific important and highly
satisfying.” —Elif Batuman author of The Idiot and Either Or A powerful award-winning novel
that follows the lives of two women as democracy starts to crumble in Hong Kong On a weekend
morning college roommates Ah Lei and Panda wake up with very different reactions to the night
before. They have been chased and tear-gassed in the streets of their city after joining tens
of thousands of others to protest a national security law that would effectively spell the end
of democracy in Hong Kong. Ah Lei can’t get out of bed her heart heavy with the lingering
images of the police and the violence on the streets and her worries about the future of her
hometown. Panda whose resistance is no less ardent puts on a sundress lines her eyes and
urges Ah Lei to join her for brunch. While the demonstrations rage the routine of life also
persists for Ah Lei Panda and people in their orbits. They attend family gatherings fight
with their mothers try and fail to focus at work on Mondays and make time for dinner dates
and app hookups. But the looming political tension and anxiety for the future transform such
everyday encounters. In the span of a few months life as they know it seems to become a
mirage: the comfort of air-conditioned shopping malls is disrupted by bloodshed tear gas and
the sounds of rubber bullets amid neon signs strangely evoke happier memories of summer night
fireworks. Gigi L. Leung’s visceral novel Everyday Movement reveals existential questions that
interrupt normal life: belonging patriotism and the meaningfulness of an electoral democracy
as well as the pampering sense of normalcy created by consumerism. Fiery and tender Leung’s
writing captures the heartbreak turmoil and rebirth in bearing witness to and engaging with a
shattering reality.
