Michael Joseph pre-empts ‘tour de force’ debut from Zhang

Michael Joseph has pre-empted Four Treasures of the Sky, a “tour de force” debut novel from Jenny Tinghui Zhang.  

Editorial director Jillian Taylor acquired UK & Commonwealth rights from Vanessa Kerr at Abner Stein. Flatiron’s Caroline Bleeke pre-empted North American rights from Stephanie Delman at Sandford J Greenburger Associates. The novel will be published in July 2022.  

Inspired by the brutal true event in America in 1885 when five Chinese immigrants were hanged by vigilantes for the alleged murder of a local white shop owner, the novel is told through the voice of Daiyu, who is kidnapped from a fish market in China in 1883 and smuggled to a brothel in San Francisco. The novel charts Daiyu’s fight for survival in America.  

The publisher wrote: “Daiyu assumes different identities, escaping the brothel of Madam Lee to work in the mines in Idaho, where she masquerades as a boy. As anti-Chinese sentiment sweeps across the country, Daiyu must draw on each of the selves she has been – including the ones she most wants to leave behind – to finally claim her own name and story.” 

“Four Treasures of the Sky is an engulfing, bighearted and heartbreaking novel”, Ann Patchett commented, “Jenny Tinghui Zhang uses her considerable talents to illuminate the shocking injustices suffered in the 1800s, and in doing so, makes us stop and consider how much of that cruelty and injustice survive to this day.”  

Taylor added: “Daiyu’s journey of self-discovery is one of the most heartrending and beautifully told stories I have ever had the privilege to read. From its haunting opening line all the way to its unforgettable end, this is an urgent novel that demands to be listened to.”  

Zhang commented: “I wrote Four Treasures of the Sky to investigate and remember the history of anti-Chinese violence in the west – something that remains as urgent and prevalent as ever. It wasn’t until researching the transportation of Chinese girls and women in the 19th Century that I unearthed the character of Daiyu, who became the voice and heart of the story. This book belongs to her, and to anyone who has struggled to find a way back to themself.”