The Lost And Forgotten Languages Of Shanghai

Li Jing, a high-flying financier, has just joined his father for dinner at the grand Swan Hotel in central Shanghai when, without warning, the ground begins to rumble. It shifts like a pre-historic animal, then explodes in a roar of hot, unfurling air. As Li Jing drags his unconscious father out of the collapsing building, a single shard of glass whistles through the air and neatly pierces his forehead. In an instant, Li Jing's ability to speak Chinese is obliterated. After weeks in hospital, all that emerge from his mouth are unsteady phrases of English from his childhood in Virginia. His wife, Zhou Meiling, finds herself unable to communicate with her husband and struggles to put on a brave face. A neurologist specialising in bilingual aphasia from the US arrives to help Li Jing recover his language. As they work together, feelings develop that neither of them anticipated. A sensitive exploration of the power of words and silence, The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai is a vivid debut about love, language, duty, and passion in a vibrant modern city.