The Walking Boy

Description:


The Walking Boy is a quest novel set in early eighth-century
Tang Dynasty China, in the final days of the rule of the first Female Emperor
Wu Zhao. The ailing hermit monk Harelip sends his disciple Baoshi on a
pilgrimage from Mount Hua to Chang'an, the Western capital; Baoshi is the 'walking
boy' charged with locating Harelip's missing former lover Ardhanari. Baoshi
lives with a secret only his Master knows, and he is filled with fears of being
discovered. On his journey, Baoshi crosses paths with both commoners and imperial
officials, as well as others who take delight in their queer identities; in
doing so, he is released powerfully from his past shame.

The Walking Boy is a book of quiet subversion, upending
classical Chinese tropes with contemporary ideas around gender and feminism. Filled
with psychological complexities, magic and poetic allusions to classical
Chinese literature, The Walking Boy
explores the intrigue of inner alchemy while exorcising the ghosts of history.

'In The Walking Boy, Kwa's world-building is meticulous and
rich, her characters both intellectually gripping and incredibly sensual, and
she puts her signature subversive queer, feminist spin on the narrative.' — Amber Dawn, author of Sodom Road Exit


'At the court, at the caves, in the cities and the mountains,
secrets and mysteries abound. This novel has it all, palace intrigues,
betrayals, spirits, enlightenment, magic, and visual and sensual delights. A
diverse cast of fascinating characters and, page after page, poetic
pronouncements to guide one, to live and to die by. I was spellbound to the