A refreshing departure from much of the recent Chinese fiction to reach these shores. The language has the pared-down simplicity of a fable; the effect is a bit like that of a Haruki Murakami novel

Open this book and you will see a Chinese girl stepping towards you out of China's past and into its present, with all her dreams and striving

Exquisitely written and intricately contructed

Reading it is rather like finding yourself in a dream: "once upon a time..." People are going to like this book very much... What could have been a misery of a story has the mysterious charm of a fairy tale or a legend

Addictive... Exhilarating... A pleasure

Murakami's most addictive fix to date

Engrossing and wildly inventive

Laden with philosophical overtones and enchanting wit

Murakami's exquisitely simple prose and deft evocation of the surreal are captivating and sublime

The mysteries are never tainted by explanation, merely beautifully described, delivering a hypnotic read

'For sheer love of a thumping narrative, the novel delivers gloriously-Inventive, alluring' David Mitchell

'Murakami's most addictive fix to date'

'Engrossing and wildly inventive'

Top marks. Fantastic

Lovely

Moving and intelligent

Magnetic, unpretentious and bursting with one-liners

Fans of chick-lit will understand when I say that this is a book you simply disappear into