This is a remarkable novel about the pain and grief of Chinese intellectuals at the dawning of the 21st century and how the country has been transformed by the internet.
The book was published in Chinese in 2006 to widespread critical acclaim. But its main theme - the moral dilemmas that result from control of information in an authoritarian society - proved too sensitive.
The General Administration of Press and Publications condemned the book and disrupted its distribution and a planned translation into English was abandoned.
This first translation by A. E. Clark was a monumental undertaking in many ways.
The story begins with a widow in her 40s, Ru Yan, who lives in an unnamed city in northern China and whose son has just left to study in France, leaving her with gifts of a little dog and a personal computer.
For the first time, she discovers the internet, which allows her to talk with her son via video link, communicate with other people, and express her views in a way she has never been able to before.