WANG HONGBO, CHINA READING WEEKLY SENIOR EDITOR

Empty Nest

By Xu Yiwei

Empty-nest syndrome has become a social issue in China since most families have only one child due to family-planning policies introduced in the 1980s.

The whole story happens in a single day, when an elderly woman receives a phonecall from a fraudster. By depicting the woman's flashbacks and inner conflicts, the plotline presents a thorough reflection upon her generation. "It's not only about empty-nest syndrome," Wang Hongbo says. "The author's discovery of life and history is beneath the surface."