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Wednesday's Child
A new collection—about loss, alienation, aging, and the strangeness of contemporary life—by the award-winning, and inimitable, author of The Book of Goose.
A grieving mother makes a spreadsheet of everyone she’s lost. Elsewhere, a professor develops a troubled intimacy with her hairdresser. And every year, a restless woman receives an email from a strange man twice her age and several states away. In Yiyun Li’s stories, people strive for an ordinary existence until doing so becomes unsustainable, until the surface cracks and the grand mysterious forces—death, violence, estrangement—come to light. And even everyday life is laden with meaning, studded with indelible details: a filched jar of honey, a mound of wounded ants, a photograph kept hidden for many years, until it must be seen.
Li is a truly original writer, an alchemist of opposites: tender and unsentimental, metaphysical and blunt, funny and horrifying, omniscient and unusually aware of just how much we cannot know. Beloved for her novels and memoirs, she returns here to her earliest form, gathering pieces that have appeared in The New Yorker, Zoetrope, and elsewhere. Taken together, the stories in Wednesday's Child, written over the span of a decade, articulate the cost, both material and emotional, of living—exile, assimilation, loss, love—with her trademark unnerving beauty and wisdom.
A grieving mother makes a spreadsheet of everyone she’s lost. Elsewhere, a professor develops a troubled intimacy with her hairdresser. And every year, a restless woman receives an email from a strange man twice her age and several states away. In Yiyun Li’s stories, people strive for an ordinary existence until doing so becomes unsustainable, until the surface cracks and the grand mysterious forces—death, violence, estrangement—come to light. And even everyday life is laden with meaning, studded with indelible details: a filched jar of honey, a mound of wounded ants, a photograph kept hidden for many years, until it must be seen.
Li is a truly original writer, an alchemist of opposites: tender and unsentimental, metaphysical and blunt, funny and horrifying, omniscient and unusually aware of just how much we cannot know. Beloved for her novels and memoirs, she returns here to her earliest form, gathering pieces that have appeared in The New Yorker, Zoetrope, and elsewhere. Taken together, the stories in Wednesday's Child, written over the span of a decade, articulate the cost, both material and emotional, of living—exile, assimilation, loss, love—with her trademark unnerving beauty and wisdom.
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2023
498 people are currently reading
17300 people want to read
About the author
Yiyun Li
64 books1,851 followersYiyun Li is the author of seven books, including Where Reasons End, which received the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award; the essay collection Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life; and the novels The Vagrants and Must I Go. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, and Windham-Campbell Prize, among other honors. A contributing editor to A Public Space, she teaches at Princeton University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 589 reviews
May 23, 2024
What makes a short story good? I'm a little confused because I enjoyed reading this collection, but every story felt like a promising beginning for a novel. Rarely did it feel like the story was completed. It does make me want to read an actual novel from Yiyun Li, who surely had the best book among this year's Pulitzer Prize finalists, even though I'm not sure if the stories were 'good' or not.
"Once you knew a slice of someone's story, you wanted to understand more, she thought."
The central theme of the collection is motherhood, but I think it would be unfair to put all these stories in one box.
"Parenting was a trial. The lucky ones were still making a case for themlseves, with cautious or blind optimism."
I know that there is a lot of resistance to short story collection, but try one or two.
""What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?" Alice asks...She might as well have asked, What is the use of a life without pictures or conversations?"
My favourites were the title story and Such common life.
"Once you knew a slice of someone's story, you wanted to understand more, she thought."
The central theme of the collection is motherhood, but I think it would be unfair to put all these stories in one box.
"Parenting was a trial. The lucky ones were still making a case for themlseves, with cautious or blind optimism."
I know that there is a lot of resistance to short story collection, but try one or two.
""What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?" Alice asks...She might as well have asked, What is the use of a life without pictures or conversations?"
My favourites were the title story and Such common life.
August 13, 2023
This is a beautiful collection of short stories about love and loss. The relationships in the book are often quite strange ones and involve the strange past lives of those involved.
My favourite had to be the longest story "Such a Common Life" which was about the intertwined lives of two women - Dr Ditmus and her carer, Ida. It covers their pasts, their loves and their immediate future plans. I say this was my favourite but Alone was very close to that. In this story we meet Suchen who has left her husband and has a definite plan but she knows only too well that plans can go completely differently to the way you wish.
As I said, the writing is beautiful and evocative . Yiyun Li has such a light touch with descriptions and language. It was a pleasure to read even though the subject is dark.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read short stories that don't particularly go anywhere, rather describe a slice of someone's life at a critical time.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advance review copy.
My favourite had to be the longest story "Such a Common Life" which was about the intertwined lives of two women - Dr Ditmus and her carer, Ida. It covers their pasts, their loves and their immediate future plans. I say this was my favourite but Alone was very close to that. In this story we meet Suchen who has left her husband and has a definite plan but she knows only too well that plans can go completely differently to the way you wish.
As I said, the writing is beautiful and evocative . Yiyun Li has such a light touch with descriptions and language. It was a pleasure to read even though the subject is dark.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read short stories that don't particularly go anywhere, rather describe a slice of someone's life at a critical time.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advance review copy.
June 18, 2023
I will confess that Yiyun Li is one of my favorite authors and therefore I am likely to be a biased reviewer. I believe she can do no wrong and I’m happy to report that is the case with this excellent collection of short stories.
While this is not one of those collections of interconnected stories, it is nonetheless a very cohesive collection. The stories belong together and work exceedingly well in the overall reading experience. There were standouts for me and not a single throwaway. The stories all share related themes. Li explores the effects of loss, grief, guilt, loneliness, and alienation. Several stories involve the death of a child, a tragedy that Li has experienced personally and written about previously. If this sounds too depressing, rest assured, Li skillfully balances the sadness with humor. That is simply how life is. There were many times I chuckled and even laughed out loud. One of Li’s greatest strengths is the characters she creates. She does it with empathy and understanding. They can be quirky at times, but always believable. Then there is the writing - controlled, beautifully rendered prose. Biased as I may be, everything works here.
My thanks to NetGalley and FSG.
While this is not one of those collections of interconnected stories, it is nonetheless a very cohesive collection. The stories belong together and work exceedingly well in the overall reading experience. There were standouts for me and not a single throwaway. The stories all share related themes. Li explores the effects of loss, grief, guilt, loneliness, and alienation. Several stories involve the death of a child, a tragedy that Li has experienced personally and written about previously. If this sounds too depressing, rest assured, Li skillfully balances the sadness with humor. That is simply how life is. There were many times I chuckled and even laughed out loud. One of Li’s greatest strengths is the characters she creates. She does it with empathy and understanding. They can be quirky at times, but always believable. Then there is the writing - controlled, beautifully rendered prose. Biased as I may be, everything works here.
My thanks to NetGalley and FSG.
August 20, 2024
The short story Wednesday’s Child was stunning - 5 stars. But the rest of the collection was a slog to get through.
July 2, 2024
After reading The Book of Goose (twice) I have been looking forward to reading more by Yiyun Li. These stories are wonderful and heartbreaking. Death and often suicide play central roles in many of them. The stories and characters have similarities with the author’s own life, but that is to be expected. Many of the stories focus on one or more individuals born in China who have immigrated to the U.S. The characters are complex, the stories are draw you in. I easily could have taken as much time thinking about each story after I finished it as I took in reading the story. Every one of these stories would be excellent book club fodder, producing a lengthy and engaging discussion.
In the story When We Were Happy We Had Other Names, Jiayu and Chris have two children, a daughter in college and a son they recently lost to suicide. Jiayu and Chris are grieving. You can see they are grieving together, but they are also each grieving on their own. They have no answers as to why their son did this; they had no indications of what was coming. Jiayu is finding her way through her grief, not really knowing how, but by doing what comes to her. She has made a list of people who she knows have died. With some of them she takes time to remember their lives and the impact that person had on her life. In the process, she revisits her memories of her grandfather, a unique man and an important part of her childhood.
Yiyun Li makes me think as much as any writer I read today. Her stories never provide easy answers, and often there is no clear resolution.
In the story When We Were Happy We Had Other Names, Jiayu and Chris have two children, a daughter in college and a son they recently lost to suicide. Jiayu and Chris are grieving. You can see they are grieving together, but they are also each grieving on their own. They have no answers as to why their son did this; they had no indications of what was coming. Jiayu is finding her way through her grief, not really knowing how, but by doing what comes to her. She has made a list of people who she knows have died. With some of them she takes time to remember their lives and the impact that person had on her life. In the process, she revisits her memories of her grandfather, a unique man and an important part of her childhood.
Yiyun Li makes me think as much as any writer I read today. Her stories never provide easy answers, and often there is no clear resolution.
July 9, 2023
Wednesday's Child (is full of woe). What a lovely evocative title for this collection of short fiction from an author who, based on this and only one other book, has become one of my favorites. There is so much beautiful imagery and language in each of these stories, but many share a commonality in the presence of a character (most often, a woman) who has immigrated from China. There is a death or an early trauma. And what they mostly feature is a current tipping point in life with backstory filled in. But no future. We do not learn their fate or the result of their choices. I plan on reading her earlier work. She's that good.
December 21, 2024
“Any man who'd had a happy childhood and an uncomplicated adolescence could mistake the initial shock of encountering the senselessness of life as a sign of falling in love, the desire to protest and protect confused with a desire to love.”
I haven’t been this excited about a literary fiction writer in soo long.
I haven’t been this excited about a literary fiction writer in soo long.
July 14, 2023
There are no repeating characters or settings in this collection of short stories, but Li has made them all feel as though they belong together, with repeating themes and tone. Even though they fit together, each one is memorable and distinct in its own right. I don’t know how Li continues to knock them out of the park, but I hope she keeps doing it.
October 6, 2024
Loss, loneliness, and alienation. Li knows how to explore these topics and make them absolutely beautiful to read about. Devastatingly human.
Some stories were more deeply impactful than others, but “Such Common Life” is an all-timer; one of the best stories I’ve ever read.
Second book I’ve read from Li and I’m in love.
Some stories were more deeply impactful than others, but “Such Common Life” is an all-timer; one of the best stories I’ve ever read.
Second book I’ve read from Li and I’m in love.
September 30, 2024
In the year 2012, novelist Yiyun Li tried to take her own life. She wrote about the experience in a series of essays. Months after the book came out, in 2017 Yiyun Li’s 16-year-old son stepped in front of a train and killed himself.
After experiencing this kind of intense personal pain and unfathomable loss, it isn't easy to imagine the author embracing topics that stray from loss and death. Indeed, in her short story Alone, she writes, “When the dead departed, they took away any falsehoods that they might have allowed us to believe while alive; we who are left behind have to embark on a different life since the dead are no longer here to help us.”
The different life she alludes to is a life where people understand that terrible things happen all the time, and when moral or intellectual passivity may be preferable to a life of anguish. The author states, “True grief, beginning with disbelief and often ending elsewhere, was never too late.”
In this collection, the “child who is full of woe” – Wednesday’s child – is omnipresent. In the first collection that bears the title, Rosalie, who lost her daughter to suicide when she was 15, takes off to Europe as the COVID-19 pandemic rages outside. Rosalie’s mother ushers in a harsh verdict: “Any time a child chooses that way out, you have to wonder what the parents did.” Rosalie’s solace is that her love for her own daughter was kinder.
“Alone” is a breathtaking story. Suchen, whose past is haunted, is in an Idaho ski resort where she meets an older loner named Walter. Suchen’s marriage is falling apart and Walter? He is in the throes of grief after his wife past away earlier that year. Suchan reveals that at 13, she and five close friends made a suicide pact; only she survived. In an echo of “Wednesday’s Child”, she tells him, “You want to ask why. Everyone did. The truth is I could not answer that question at the time and I still can’t answer it.”
In “When We Were Happy We Had Other Names”, we encounter Jiayu and Chris arranging funeral services for their son, who died by his own hand. She reflects, “The death of a child belonged to a different realm – that of a Greek tragedy or a mawkish movie." Understanding that grief was often disbelief, she takes to listing everyone she met who is now dead, and learns something about her grandfather and the legacy of grief.
This reader suspects that the last story, “All Will be Well”, is the fulfillment of the author’s promise to her hairdresser, who wished the narrator to write a romantic novel about her and her first love. The enormity of her requested task weighs on her as she recalls she could not write a note to her children, required by their school to soothe them in the event of a catastrophic earthquake. “All will be well, all will be well, and every kind of thing shall be well, yet I could not even write a lying note to console my children.”
Words fail. Life is unknowable. Grief is in a whole different realm. But somehow, Yiyun Li weaves together stories that dive into the meaning of mortality and the reasons to trudge on.
After experiencing this kind of intense personal pain and unfathomable loss, it isn't easy to imagine the author embracing topics that stray from loss and death. Indeed, in her short story Alone, she writes, “When the dead departed, they took away any falsehoods that they might have allowed us to believe while alive; we who are left behind have to embark on a different life since the dead are no longer here to help us.”
The different life she alludes to is a life where people understand that terrible things happen all the time, and when moral or intellectual passivity may be preferable to a life of anguish. The author states, “True grief, beginning with disbelief and often ending elsewhere, was never too late.”
In this collection, the “child who is full of woe” – Wednesday’s child – is omnipresent. In the first collection that bears the title, Rosalie, who lost her daughter to suicide when she was 15, takes off to Europe as the COVID-19 pandemic rages outside. Rosalie’s mother ushers in a harsh verdict: “Any time a child chooses that way out, you have to wonder what the parents did.” Rosalie’s solace is that her love for her own daughter was kinder.
“Alone” is a breathtaking story. Suchen, whose past is haunted, is in an Idaho ski resort where she meets an older loner named Walter. Suchen’s marriage is falling apart and Walter? He is in the throes of grief after his wife past away earlier that year. Suchan reveals that at 13, she and five close friends made a suicide pact; only she survived. In an echo of “Wednesday’s Child”, she tells him, “You want to ask why. Everyone did. The truth is I could not answer that question at the time and I still can’t answer it.”
In “When We Were Happy We Had Other Names”, we encounter Jiayu and Chris arranging funeral services for their son, who died by his own hand. She reflects, “The death of a child belonged to a different realm – that of a Greek tragedy or a mawkish movie." Understanding that grief was often disbelief, she takes to listing everyone she met who is now dead, and learns something about her grandfather and the legacy of grief.
This reader suspects that the last story, “All Will be Well”, is the fulfillment of the author’s promise to her hairdresser, who wished the narrator to write a romantic novel about her and her first love. The enormity of her requested task weighs on her as she recalls she could not write a note to her children, required by their school to soothe them in the event of a catastrophic earthquake. “All will be well, all will be well, and every kind of thing shall be well, yet I could not even write a lying note to console my children.”
Words fail. Life is unknowable. Grief is in a whole different realm. But somehow, Yiyun Li weaves together stories that dive into the meaning of mortality and the reasons to trudge on.
May 1, 2023
Wednesday's Child is so beautifully crafted. A set of stories about grief and how it bursts out in so many ways. Even though the stories range from melancholy to truly sad, the careful word choice by Yiyun Li creates almost a song, a lullaby, a dirge. I did not know if I would enjoy this story collection but I did very much.
Li has lived much of what she writes and that makes it even more poignant. She is an incredible writer and her work will haunt your dreams! If you love true literature, Wednesday's Child is for you!
Li has lived much of what she writes and that makes it even more poignant. She is an incredible writer and her work will haunt your dreams! If you love true literature, Wednesday's Child is for you!
March 16, 2024
Wednesday's Child is full of woe, but what truly makes this collection shine is the degree of compassion and control with which Yiyun Li here explores interiority and human connection. At the heart of each of these ten stories – written over the course of fourteen years – is the idea of life after loss: often, this is the death of a child, as in
Where Reasons End
, but Li's thoughtful, measured prose also traverses other forms of bereavement. Each story is deeply introspective even as it features rich dialogue, with characters who variously shed light on motherhood, carework, divorce, infidelity, sexual abuse, and immigration, meditating on identity, belonging, and death in deeply and often unexpectedly poignant ways.
Each of Li's protagonists – Chinese-American women with detailed backgrounds but no real sense of, or for, a future – are distinct but mired in variations of a similar quagmire, which lends the collection an easy sense of cohesion that I really admired. In addition to the titular story, which was first published in The New Yorker, my favourite was "Such a Common Life." The longest in the collection, this latter story features the relationship between an elderly entomologist and her carer, and synthesises all the aforementioned themes with a generous dose of humour.
I loved how seamlessly Li weaves insights on Chinese immigrant culture in stories that are so distinctly American. She also has a particular knack for endings, and though her style is not minimalist by any stretch, it reminded me somewhat of Raymond Carver.
Overall, this is a stunning collection, a masterclass in craft that I came upon accidentally and am genuinely pleased to be recommending.
3.5 stars
Each of Li's protagonists – Chinese-American women with detailed backgrounds but no real sense of, or for, a future – are distinct but mired in variations of a similar quagmire, which lends the collection an easy sense of cohesion that I really admired. In addition to the titular story, which was first published in The New Yorker, my favourite was "Such a Common Life." The longest in the collection, this latter story features the relationship between an elderly entomologist and her carer, and synthesises all the aforementioned themes with a generous dose of humour.
I loved how seamlessly Li weaves insights on Chinese immigrant culture in stories that are so distinctly American. She also has a particular knack for endings, and though her style is not minimalist by any stretch, it reminded me somewhat of Raymond Carver.
Overall, this is a stunning collection, a masterclass in craft that I came upon accidentally and am genuinely pleased to be recommending.
3.5 stars
August 13, 2023
This is my third Yiyun Li and the first short stories I ever read by her. I enjoyed them... But found them less magical and mysterious than her novels, which I found so intriguing and kept thinking about for days. These short stories - some could be called vignettes - were lovely but due to the brevity of the format lacked a solid plot and felt a bit empty at times. I really liked the titular story and "Hello, Goodbye" in particular. It was enjoyable but not where I would start if I had never read Yiyun Li before.
3.5 rounded down.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
3.5 rounded down.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
September 27, 2024
All these stories are impeccably written, yet desperately dull.
on-hold
January 7, 20241. wednesday’s child
2. a sheltered woman
3. hello, goodbye
4. a small flame
5. on the street where you live
6. such common life
7. a flawless silence
--------
anthologies & short story collections, 2024
1. wednesday’s child, yiyun li
2. a sheltered woman
3. hello, goodbye
4. a small flame
5. on the street where you live
6. such common life
7. a flawless silence
--------
anthologies & short story collections, 2024
1. wednesday’s child, yiyun li
September 18, 2023
Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher FSG for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Times Reads tok for the physical copy
TW: grief, suicide, racism, violence, abuse, depression
Wednesday Child by Yiyun Li is an incredible collection of short stories with delicate exploration on grief, loss and death. With 11 short stories, each with their themes are impactful in their own ways to a reader like me. I was overwhelmed with various emotions from sad to melancholy, to laughing at some absurdness to crying over the loss, this collection proven is now slot to be one of favourite read this year for me.
I have heard so much about Yiyun Li and yet I have never read her works until now. Upon reading the first story in this collection, I was caught up in her grief, the grief of a mother on the loss of her child to suicide. Before I read her work, I was aware of her real life story of her own loss, her son to tragic departure which reflected in another work of her, Where Reasons End. Knowing this changed so much of my perspective and experience in reading. It became more profoundly apparent how grieving the characters are in here may or may not reflected some of Li's own pain and sorrow. With stories as the titular title Wednesday's Child open on the mother's journey to coping by taking trips around the world after her daughter's suicide and "When we were happy we had other names" of a mother jotting down names of people in her family who passed away in remembrance after her son's death.
Loss is inevitable. All living beings will pass away sooner or later. But when loss came in the crashing form of losing loved ones to suicide, this is painful beyond words. I can feel the sadness, the pain in each lines she wrote. I was enraptured in her stories of loss and grief, of living and dying, of being and unbeing, its the magic of life and the devastating death. From the grief of losing your daughter to suicide as a mother took a trip to recover from loss, an experienced Chinese nanny taking care of an infant in his first month for a family, a woman returned to China after years of living in the State, the struggle of a mother caring for her autistic son, an accomplished woman in China but become the caretaker for an old scientist, a mother who recorded every deaths she know into a spreadsheet to cope with her son's suicide. Some of the stories dealt heavier on topic of passing away and death, one that doesnt get glossed over for how sorrowful and decapitating they can be. With the author's right balance of emotions in the writing, this collection was profound and intriguing to read.
TW: grief, suicide, racism, violence, abuse, depression
Wednesday Child by Yiyun Li is an incredible collection of short stories with delicate exploration on grief, loss and death. With 11 short stories, each with their themes are impactful in their own ways to a reader like me. I was overwhelmed with various emotions from sad to melancholy, to laughing at some absurdness to crying over the loss, this collection proven is now slot to be one of favourite read this year for me.
I have heard so much about Yiyun Li and yet I have never read her works until now. Upon reading the first story in this collection, I was caught up in her grief, the grief of a mother on the loss of her child to suicide. Before I read her work, I was aware of her real life story of her own loss, her son to tragic departure which reflected in another work of her, Where Reasons End. Knowing this changed so much of my perspective and experience in reading. It became more profoundly apparent how grieving the characters are in here may or may not reflected some of Li's own pain and sorrow. With stories as the titular title Wednesday's Child open on the mother's journey to coping by taking trips around the world after her daughter's suicide and "When we were happy we had other names" of a mother jotting down names of people in her family who passed away in remembrance after her son's death.
Loss is inevitable. All living beings will pass away sooner or later. But when loss came in the crashing form of losing loved ones to suicide, this is painful beyond words. I can feel the sadness, the pain in each lines she wrote. I was enraptured in her stories of loss and grief, of living and dying, of being and unbeing, its the magic of life and the devastating death. From the grief of losing your daughter to suicide as a mother took a trip to recover from loss, an experienced Chinese nanny taking care of an infant in his first month for a family, a woman returned to China after years of living in the State, the struggle of a mother caring for her autistic son, an accomplished woman in China but become the caretaker for an old scientist, a mother who recorded every deaths she know into a spreadsheet to cope with her son's suicide. Some of the stories dealt heavier on topic of passing away and death, one that doesnt get glossed over for how sorrowful and decapitating they can be. With the author's right balance of emotions in the writing, this collection was profound and intriguing to read.
August 24, 2023
WEDNESDAY'S CHILD by Yiyun Li, is read by the author and left me feeling quite contemplative.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is a collection of stories that thoughtfully and compassionately delves into the heavier topics.
The title was compelling, as I am a Wednesday's child, and I am not averse to a more melancholy read. This collection certainly has that aspect, but there are real moments of tenderness and insights within, that it doesn't become too much. Rather, it is a gentle, though sometimes brusque exploration of loss in various forms.
There are a lot of end of life issues inside, and one may want to prepare for those, especially surrounding suicide.
I felt this was a beautiful written book. I enjoyed the change of genre and style, and especially the perspective from a Chinese heritage. I often enjoy when the author narrates her own books, as she is able to give emphasis where she envisioned it.
Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio & @fsgbooks for sharing this ALC with me and asking for my thoughts. This will be published on September 4th, and I definitely recommend it for those looking for a deeper read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is a collection of stories that thoughtfully and compassionately delves into the heavier topics.
The title was compelling, as I am a Wednesday's child, and I am not averse to a more melancholy read. This collection certainly has that aspect, but there are real moments of tenderness and insights within, that it doesn't become too much. Rather, it is a gentle, though sometimes brusque exploration of loss in various forms.
There are a lot of end of life issues inside, and one may want to prepare for those, especially surrounding suicide.
I felt this was a beautiful written book. I enjoyed the change of genre and style, and especially the perspective from a Chinese heritage. I often enjoy when the author narrates her own books, as she is able to give emphasis where she envisioned it.
Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio & @fsgbooks for sharing this ALC with me and asking for my thoughts. This will be published on September 4th, and I definitely recommend it for those looking for a deeper read.
April 24, 2024
I can’t imagine reading something written by Yiyun Li and not liking it. It took 14 years to write this book of stories and it took me 11 days to read them. My two favorite stories are Wednesday’s Child and All will be well, the first story and the last one. The first gives whole Mrs Dalloway vibes in the writing style, which surprised and mesmerized me. In the last one I feel like I’ve gotten a real chance of meeting the author herself, it moved me greatly, but I was also taken in by the style and the fine first person storytelling.
November 14, 2023
a stunning collection. review to come
April 3, 2024
I don’t think Yiyun Li is a short story writer.
Read
May 27, 2025‘—it was not stoicism that sustained them but defeatism. At the end of the workday, when one of them felt paralysed—they fell into that state by turns—the other would insist that they drive to a park—Dusk fell earlier day by day and then took a leap into darkness in early November.’
‘Listened’ to this (audiobook, read by the author). I had wanted to like it more (or at least had felt very ‘optimistic’ about it), but ultimately I don’t think this collection was for me. Some good bits, but overall I didn’t find it interesting enough. The first few appealed to me more than the later ones. I feel I might have felt inclined to DNF it if I had not ‘listened’ to it. But suspiciously and possibly a wrong book, time for me. Regardless, still very certainly keen to check out her other work. So far, I have only ever ‘heard’ good things about Yiyun Li, so it could very possibly be a ‘me’ problem. Nothing ‘terrible’ about the writing, I just/simply didn’t find it all interesting enough.
‘—Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go.’
March 15, 2024
i'm not going to be able to describe this well, but as I was reading these stories I sometimes felt like what I was reading was the very surface, like an image reflected on pond, and underneath was another story that if I was smarter and more cognizant I would be able to pull out from below. li is an incredible writer, able to nestle sharp little moments in larger unwinding structure.
favorites: wednesday’s child, a sheltered woman, let mothers doubt, when we were happy we had other names
favorites: wednesday’s child, a sheltered woman, let mothers doubt, when we were happy we had other names
October 12, 2023
This short story collection was moving, reflective, and thought-provoking, but I have mixed feelings about it. While some stories were interesting, some others fell flat as they weren't very engaging to me as a reader.
July 21, 2023
“When she moved on to the next place, she would leave no mystery or damage behind; no one in this world would be disturbed by having known her.”
A touching, beautiful collection. I’ve only read two of her books, and now this one confirms that I need to read everything she’s written.
The few stories that revolved around recent events—Trump’s election, COVID—were the least interesting to me. I think we’ve just seen so much written about these topics that they can’t possibly have anything new to offer. But, other than that, a perfect collection.
Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advance copy of this book.
A touching, beautiful collection. I’ve only read two of her books, and now this one confirms that I need to read everything she’s written.
The few stories that revolved around recent events—Trump’s election, COVID—were the least interesting to me. I think we’ve just seen so much written about these topics that they can’t possibly have anything new to offer. But, other than that, a perfect collection.
Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advance copy of this book.
June 6, 2023
i knew this would be so good
December 17, 2023
This tried way too hard to be profound.
December 6, 2025
It took me so long to finish this book because I had to pause and take a breather after each short story. Exploring themes such as loss, abuse, death, loneliness, motherhood, and feeling “out of place”, these stories were ones that I found myself relating to. The author experienced significant loss (long a child to suicide and even attempting herself), and you feel that sense of despair and anguish in the characters which made the book even more haunting. There are moments of absurdity and humor as well, which I enjoyed. Because sometimes you feel that and you need that when everything else feels out of control.
June 18, 2024
These short stories are sad but unsentimental, often written about a character whose initial shock of grief has evolved into something more complicated. A few of the stories (the title story and Alone) are knockouts and the book is a coherent collection despite being written over a 14-year span.
I’m happy I went back to reading Li so soon after The Book of Goose and will keep going through her back catalog now because she’s the real deal.
I’m happy I went back to reading Li so soon after The Book of Goose and will keep going through her back catalog now because she’s the real deal.
August 14, 2023
"Wednesday's Child" is Yiyun Li's collection of short stories spanning 15 years' worth of writing, and a must-read for fans of this author. Though the stories aren't connected to one another, they traverse similar landscapes of loss and a yearning for connection, be they between strangers who meet at a chance moment or between family members who have drifted apart due to several circumstances.
Those who have read Yiyun Li's works would feel right at home within the pages of this collection, as her writings are evocative and lovely as always and you can see her personal touches within the stories by imbuing semi-autobiographical facts of her life into the narrative. In a way, many of these stories seemed to be Li's way of purging her demons through literary fiction; "Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life" is another instance of Li's tendency to write about the difficult things she has personally faced in her life.
My personal favorites are "A Sheltered Woman" (a story I'd read before as it has been published separately) and "Such Common Life", but if I'm honest almost all of the stories resonated with me in some way or another. But then again, I am a biased fan of Li's writing, so do take my high recommendations with a grain of salt lol.
"Wednesday's Child" presents a great sampling of Li's writing for those who may be curious about her books, and though it might not be the best introduction to her oeuvre, I'd recommend this for those who loved "The Book of Goose" and want to be immersed within her lush writing once more.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy of this gorgeous book. All opinions are my own.
Those who have read Yiyun Li's works would feel right at home within the pages of this collection, as her writings are evocative and lovely as always and you can see her personal touches within the stories by imbuing semi-autobiographical facts of her life into the narrative. In a way, many of these stories seemed to be Li's way of purging her demons through literary fiction; "Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life" is another instance of Li's tendency to write about the difficult things she has personally faced in her life.
My personal favorites are "A Sheltered Woman" (a story I'd read before as it has been published separately) and "Such Common Life", but if I'm honest almost all of the stories resonated with me in some way or another. But then again, I am a biased fan of Li's writing, so do take my high recommendations with a grain of salt lol.
"Wednesday's Child" presents a great sampling of Li's writing for those who may be curious about her books, and though it might not be the best introduction to her oeuvre, I'd recommend this for those who loved "The Book of Goose" and want to be immersed within her lush writing once more.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy of this gorgeous book. All opinions are my own.
August 8, 2023
Wednesday’s Child is a lovely collection of stories to take your time with. There are somber themes involving grief, the examination of past choices, and how well we know (or don’t know) ourselves and others. Li was already one of my favorite authors, and this collection did not disappoint. Recommended for fans of Li, short stories, or reflective works.
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing a digital review copy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing a digital review copy.
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