The Age of Goodbyes

Translated by YZ Chin

By one of Southeast Asia’s most exciting writers, The Age of Goodbyes is a wildly inventive account of family history, political turmoil, and the redemptive grace of storytelling.

In 1969, in the wake of Malaysia's deadliest race riots, a woman named Du Li An secures her place in society by marrying a gangster. In a parallel narrative, a critic known only as The Fourth Person explores the work of a writer also named Du Li An. And a third storyline is in the second person; 'you' are reading a novel titled The Age of Goodbyes. Floundering in the wake of 'your' mother’s death, 'you' are trying to unpack the secrets surrounding 'your' lineage.

The Age of Goodbyes — which begins on page 513, a reference to the riots of May 13, 1969 — is the acclaimed debut by Li Zi Shu. The winner of multiple awards and a Taiwanese bestseller, this dazzling novel is a profound exploration of what happens to personal memory when official accounts of history distort and render it taboo.

'Loaded with vibrant cultural details, wry anecdotes, and literary conundrums, it’s a challenging and often downright mystifying tale, but never less than absorbing.' — Foreword Reviews, starred review