The Woman Back from Moscow: In Pursuit of Beauty

Written by Ha Jin

Narrated by Catherine Ho

Through the life of a remarkable woman, based on pioneering stage director Sun Weishi (1921–1968), this epic novel immerses us in the multifaceted history of China’s Communist Party.

As a promising young actress, Sun Weishi made the critical decision to pursue her studies in Moscow—with the blessing of her influential adoptive father, Zhou Enlai, and Mao himself. The valuable insights she gained there during World War II, most notably the significance of characters’ inner lives, would enable her to excel back in China, where she produced works by Chekhov and Gogol, and other socially progressive dramas, such as an adaptation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Her striking career as China’s first female director of modern spoken drama (Huaju) would be derailed with the advent of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, which put her once again at odds with an old nemesis: Jiang Ching, a fellow actress who schemed her way to the top as Mao’s fourth and final wife.

Through the decades-long rivalry between these two complex women, and their differing approaches to the men in power who shaped their lives, Ha Jin deftly explores the ideals of communism and the reality of the Chinese Communist Party. At the same time, the novel captivates us with Sun Weishi’s personal struggles and triumphs, as she navigates friendship, love, art, and politics amid the great events of the twentieth century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889566915

Ha Jin

Ha Jin left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of two books of poetry; two collections of stories, Ocean of Words, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award in 1997, and Under the Red Flag, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction in 1996; and In the Pond, a novel. He lives near Atlanta, where he is a professor at Emory University.