Women, Seated

by Zhang Yueran, Jeremy Tiang (Translator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Delving into social themes of class and privilege in modern China, where a woman’s life takes an unexpected turn, this is a gripping yet tender tale of power, betrayal and the quest for sovereignty.

A riveting story of a powerful Chinese family's fall from grace

Enter the world of an elite Chinese couple: a life of luxury, wealth, and around-the-clock service, which includes their trusted nanny, Yu Ling. Slipping in and out of the shadows, meticulous in her care of their only son, she has served the family for years and knows their secrets. But little do they suspect that Yu Ling has secrets of her own.

In the pressure-cooker political environment of China, the fates of even the most powerful families can reverse overnight. When the family becomes the subject of a government investigation, their fortunes crumble, and the nanny is left to make a series of life-changing choices. How far will she go to claim her due?

Taut and enthralling, Women, Seated is a high-stakes story of power and privilege, crimes and secrets, and the elusive pursuit of personal freedom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593851920
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/12/2025
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Zhang Yueran is the award-winning author of several novels written in Chinese, including Cocoon, which was translated around the world and won the Best Asian Novel of the Prix Transfuge in 2019. She lives in Beijing.

Jeremy Tiang is a prolific translator whose 2022 translation of Ninth Building, by Zou Jingzhi, was longlisted for the International Booker Prize. He lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Women, Seated:

"Vivid, smart, suspenseful." –Mo Yan, winner of the Nobel Prize

"Women, Seated is a propulsive, tightly wound, and beautifully observed novel that explores ideas of power, secrets, motherhood, and sacrifice. I couldn't put it down." –Meg Wolitzer

“A suspenseful and layered novel…Thanks to Zhang’s astute storytelling, characters that first appear to be villains become more complex as the years of disappointment and fractured ambitions that have shaped them come to light. This gripping drama offers an intimate view into contemporary China’s class dynamics." –Publishers Weekly

“A tight modern thriller about monied elites and corruption in mainland China…These characters may live in your head for some time due to Zhang’s fine pacing and quirky scenes.” –Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-06-07
A tight modern thriller about monied elites and corruption in mainland China also gives us a window into the life of a nanny to a privileged couple’s young son.

When 7-year-old Kuan Kuan wants something, he gets it. His gym-rat father, Hu Yafei, and artist mother, Qin Wen, lavish the boy with material goods even as they leave him largely in the care of his nanny, Yu Ling. As the book opens, Yu Ling and her lover Donghu have taken Kuan Kuan on a promised spring outing when they chance upon a man with a cargo of geese that Kuan Kuan insists are swans. His threatened tantrum might derail the day’s plans, so the duo buys him one goose that he names Swan. The fowl’s appearances throughout the rest of the book seem funny and in keeping with a spoiled child’s obsession. However, toward the finale, someone’s goose will be cooked because of Swan, and that’s not a hint about what’s for dinner—rather, it shows how carefully Zhang has planned the action. Yu Ling knows that the parents have disappeared, temporarily or not, due to charges leveled against Qin Wen’s father and the rest of the family by officials. She also believes that Qin Wen has information that keeps her tied to this position as nanny. Most important, and despite Kuan Kuan’s imperious ways, Yu Ling loves the little boy and doesn’t want him to come to any harm, so she tries to watch him with special care when a woman named Huang Xiaomin, who claims to be Hu Yafei’s mistress, arrives at the house and settles in for a long stay. From this point on savvy readers may be able to work out the very sudden and very odd ending, yet the real reward of the novel lies in how we pay attention: A portrait may be just a picture of a person, but the painter leads our eyes.

These characters may live in your head for some time due to Zhang’s fine pacing and quirky scenes.

Kirkus Reviews