Wandering cleric Chih and their companion Almost Brilliant travel to the town Baolin, to hear stories of famine and end up entangled in a family story of hunger, ghosts, shame, and survival.

Yiyun Li's astounding book is a clear-eyed examination of loss and grief after the death of her son James. But more than that, it offers a deeply felt look at life in all its mess and complexity, in all its beauty and its pain. An astonishing work by one of our most thoughtful writers, a book not to be missed.