Description

Longlisted for the Center for Fictions 2022 First Novel Prize

An epic mesmerizing debut novel set against a rapidly changing postCultural Revolution China A Map for the Missing reckons with the costs of pursuing ones dreams and the lives we leave behind

Tang Yitian has been living in America estranged from his family for almost a decade when he receives an urgent phone call from his mother his father has disappeared from the familys rural village in China When Yitian returns home and attempts to piece together what may have happened he struggles to navigate the countrys impenetrable bureaucracy as an outsider So he seeks out a childhood friend Tian Hanwen who as a teenager was sent down from Shanghai to Yitians village as part of Chinas rustication campaign Young and in love they dreamed of attending university together But after a terrible tragedy their paths diverged and while Yitian ended up a professor in America Hanwen was left behind

Reuniting for the first time as adults Yitian and Hanwen embark on a search for Yitians father all the while grappling with the past and what might have been Spanning the late 1970s to 1990s and moving effortlessly between rural provinces and big citiesA Map for the Missingis a deeply felt examination of family and forgiveness and the meaning of home