The Immortal Woman

“Su Chang’s The Immortal Women traces the threads of women damaged by history, carrying their wounds forward across generations to unwittingly warp their most intimate bonds. This tender and heartbreaking excavation forms a portrait of a mother and daughter fractured first by their past, then again by the weight of dreams they could not live up to in the present. The Immortal Woman is a testament to the dangers of history, and the power of words to both wound and heal.”

— Tessa Hulls, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence nominee and Kirkus Prize nominee

“In su chang’s hypnotic, transfixing novel, the reader shares in lemei’s fever dream of purges, kidnapping, and mob violence, followed by the waking horror that all of it is true. daring and astute, the immortal woman goes beyond asking what people will do to survive. How they will live, with themselves and with each other, once the surviving is done?”

— Thea Lim, Giller Prize nominee

“At once lush and heartbreaking, The Immortal Woman is a shimmering, exquisite story of two women finding freedom at the limit of ideological groupthink. A gorgeous, intelligent debut.”

— Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, Giller Prize nominee

“stunning, extraordinary, a major achievement…Few novels can give you the sense of the entirety of a time and place, but that is what Su Chang has accomplished in her debut novel. She captures the political and social world of two generations of women… and the real achievement of The Immortal Woman is not merely the social and political realities its author describes, but the depths of feeling she explores and articulates in response to these realities. This novel is a wonder to behold.”

— Joseph Kertes, Leacock Medal Winner and National Jewish Book Award Winner

“With vividly immersive, dreamlike prose, Su Chang unearths a dystopic period of one country’s history and its far-reaching echoes, revealing seeds of brutality that feel frighteningly familiar here, and in so much of the world today. Perceptive, mesmerizing, and open-hearted, The Immortal Woman is an urgent reminder that we must hold tight to our humanity, and our imaginations, at every turn.”

— Jessica Westhead, Canada Reads nominee

“The Immortal Woman reveals a woman’s experience of revolution… even a repressive regime cannot silence a woman’s emotional truth, and Su Chang tells it in this novel. It’s a book that makes our hearts bigger. Read it.”

— Kim Echlin, Giller Prize and International Dublin Literary Award nominee, Toronto Book Award Winner

“The Immortal Woman shocked me with its clarity and compassion. In this page-turning tale of a spirited mother and daughter, Su Chang illuminates a cruel chapter of recent history, exposing the generational scars inflicted by a dehumanizing regime. The result is a fierce, unforgettable debut.”

— Alissa York, Giller Prize nominee, Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award Winner