From one of China's most celebrated and silenced literary authors, Murong Xuecun, Deadly Quiet City is an unforgettable collection of true stories from the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.

On 23 January 2020, Wuhan was placed in total lockdown. The city of eleven million - the centre of China's coronavirus outbreak - was cut off from the world. As cherry blossoms fell on silent streets, people were left anxious and afraid, struggling to find medicine, food or information about the virus that had trapped them in their homes.

In April 2020, Murong Xuecun bravely travelled to the locked-down city, covertly interviewing people from all walks of life on their experiences as the catastrophe unfolded. An exhausted doctor in a small hospital, battling the virus while sick. An illegal motorcycle taxi driver, ferrying people around the empty city. A citizen journalist fighting to reveal the truth of what happened during that endless spring.

The result is eight stories that capture the voices and griefs of a city, and that Murong had to leave China in order to publish. Vivid and haunting, Deadly Quiet City is a unique piece of literary history that reveals so much about the lives of people, the pandemic and China today.

Includes editor's note from Professor Clive Hamilton, author of Hidden Hand.

About the Author
Murong Xuecun (nom de plume of Hao Qun) is one of China's most famous authors. Through his novels and narrative non-fiction, he has been a rare independent voice writing from inside China. Murong's first novel, Leave Me Alone: A novel of Chengdu, took China by storm in 2002. His recent books include the novel Dancing Through Red Dust and the non-fiction People's Literature Prize winner The Missing Ingredient, a work of undercover investigative reporting on a pyramid scheme. Murong has also written for The New York Times since 2011, including an opinion column from 2013 to 2016.

Reviews
'... reads like a message in a bottle from a secret state.' -Seven Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald

'People who are curious to know why China is so resistant to outside investigation should read this book.' - Anita Chan, The Conversation

'Deadly Quiet City is a heartfelt book about Chinese people by a Chinese writer' - Michael Smith, Australian Financial Review

'A harrowing snapshot of life in the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. . . . This is a masterful expose.' - Publishers Weekly
... reads like a message in a bottle from a secret state. -- Steven Carroll * Sydney Morning Herald *
People who are curious to know why China is so resistant to outside investigation should read this book. -- Anita Chan * The Conversation *
'Deadly Quiet City is a heartfelt book about Chinese people by a Chinese writer' - Michael Smith, Australian Financial Review -- Michael Smith * Australian Financial Review *
'A harrowing snapshot of life in the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. . . . This is a masterful expose.' - Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly *



Book Information
ISBN 9781743798744
Author Murong Xuecun
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Hardie Grant Books
Publisher Hardie Grant Books
Weight(grams) 320g