The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
***'A refreshing perspective on mourning, as well as a moving tale of a social outcast' - i-D Magazine***
An Yu's Braised Pork meets Flaubert's Madame Bovary in this unforgettable, tragi-comic tale of one woman's mid-life re-awakening in contemporary rural China.
The Funeral Cryer long ago accepted the mundane realities of her life: avoided by fellow villagers because of the stigma attached to her job as a professional mourner and under-appreciated by The Husband, whose fecklessness has pushed the couple close to the brink of break-up. But just when things couldn't be bleaker, The Funeral Cryer takes a leap of faith - and in so doing things start to take a surprising turn for the better . . .
Dark, moving and wry, The Funeral Cryer is both an illuminating depiction of a 'left behind' society - and proof that it's never too late to change your life.