Waiting

From the celebrated author comes a deeply evocative novel about a man torn between two worlds and the opposing demands of two very different women. In Ha Jin’s Waiting, human desire clashes with centuries-old traditions in a story rich with meaning and universal appeal. Each summer, Lin Kong, a doctor in the Chinese Army, returns to his village to try to end his arranged, loveless marriage to the devoted Shuyu. Yet, he must also go back to the city to inform Manna Wu, the modern and educated nurse he loves, that their engagement must be delayed once more. Caught between these women and constrained by a culture where adultery can destroy lives and careers, Lin has been waiting for eighteen years. This year, he vows, will be different. “Ha Jin deeply captures the tension between individual desires and societal expectations, revealing with insight and compassion the intricate realities of a world we need to understand.” — National Book Award Judges' Citation