Frog : a novel
/ Mo Yan
- Victoria, AUD : Hamish Hamilton , 2009
- 387 p. ; 24 cm.
Frog opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Gugu-the beautiful daughter of a famous doctor and staunch Communist - is revered for her skill as a midwife. But when her lover defects, Gugu's own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decides to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping tabs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women as many as eight months pregnant. In sharply personal prose, Mo Yan depicts a world of desperate families, illegal surrogates, forced abortions, and the guilt of those who must enforce the policy. At once illuminating and devastating, it shines a light into the heart of communist China.
Translated from the Chinese to English
Winner of The Nobel Prize for literature
9780143800095
Childbirth---Fiction---ChinaxHistory---20th century Family size---Government policy---Fiction---China Birth control---Government policy---Fiction---China Family planning---Government policy---Fiction---China Reproductive rights---Fiction---China