Meet the Author: Fan Wu, February Flowers

17-year-old Ming and 24-year-old Yan have little in common other than studying at the same college. Ming, idealistic and preoccupied, lives in her own world of books, music, and imagination. Yan, by contrast, is sexy and cynical, beautiful and wild, and without a sense of home. When the two meet and become friends, Ming's world is forever changed. But their differences in upbringing and world views ultimately drive them apart, leaving each to face her dark secret alone.

Insightful, sophisticated, and rich with complex characters, February Flowers captures a society torn between tradition and modernity, dogma and freedom. It is a meditation on friendship, family, love, loss, and redemption, and the hold of the past on the present.

Fan Wu grew up on a farm in southern China, where her parents were exiled during the Cultural Revolution. She came to the United States in 1997 for graduate studies at Stanford University and started writing in 2002. February Flowers is her first novel and is now being translated into six languages. Fan Wu's short stories have appeared in Granta and The Missouri Review. She divides her time between northern California and China.

Co-sponsored by Stacey's Books