Song | Paperback

Song | Paperback Description

A sweeping historical epic following one boy's long journey from rags to riches, by the award-winning journalist and travel editor of Vanity Fair. ?A wonderfully lush and atmospheric odyssey of survival against all odds? ?Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other Song is just a boy when he sets out from Lishui village in China. Brimming with courage and ambition, he leaves behind his family, hoping he'll make his fortune and return home. Chasing tales of sugarcane, rubber, and gold, Song embarks upon a perilous voyage across the oceans to the British colony of Guiana, but once there he discovers riches are not so easy to come by and he is forced into labouring as an indentured plantation worker. This is only the beginning of Song's remarkable life, but as he finds himself between places and between peoples, and increasingly aware that the circumstances of birth carry more weight than accomplishments or good deeds, Song fears he may live as an outsider forever. This beautifully written and evocative story spans nearly half a century and half the globe, and though it is set in another century, Song's story of emigration and the quest for an opportunity to improve his life is timeless. Michelle Jana Chan is an award-winning journalist and travel editor of Vanity Fair in the UK, where she presents the magazine's digital Future Series. Formerly, Michelle was a BBC TV presenter, news producer at CNN International, and reporter at Newsweek. She was a Morehead-Cain scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. @michellejchan