她们

by Yan Lianke

★阎连科全新长篇散文，一部深刻书写女性命运的圆梦之作！

阎连科等待十年之后的圆梦之作，这一次他终于可以提起笔，将文字投向世代更迭中女人的命运。他说：“这部散文写了我家族中几乎所有的女性，包括我年轻时谈过的对象……”她们从凡俗中来，甘愿在尘埃里活好自己的一方世界。

★阎连科动情作序“十年的等待”，念念不忘的煎熬

写一本女性的散文，需要十年的等待，这是一种微笑的隐痛。他坦言女性的万千命运，苦乐哭笑永远值得被认真讲述。她们依照自己的性情在大地生长与消逝，平凡之中自有其动人之处。

★多重情感交织，探索女性一生中的温情与隐痛

相亲与恋爱、融洽与争吵、挣脱与命定，难以言明的隐秘心事，从文字的细处缓缓流出，呈现一场含蓄又动人的女性成长史。

★她们生而为艰，却以柔软抵抗世界的坚硬

尘世的生活深陷着每一个女性想要舞蹈的脚，不管命运如何颠沛，她们依然期冀未来、充盈欲望。从他的故事中，我们可以领悟到：她们——女性，只有不丢失自尊、人格独立，灵魂才能始终站立、心灵也才有处存放。

《她们》是当代文学大家阎连科，十年圆梦之作！蓄力十年之后，他用呕心沥血的文字描绘了一方土地上不同女性的命运，窥见东方女性在上百年的历史中扮演了怎样的角色、如何过活，又是怎样变成了今天这般千姿百态的模样。

书中包含他的母辈：母亲、姑姑们，同辈：姐姐、嫂子们的人生故事，以及他与孙女辈相处的生活故事。从她们生命的延宕与变迁的岁月中，我们可以窥探到身为女性的她们，不得不面临的人生困境，以及身为女性的她们自身所独有的光辉。

女性被挟裹在这个伟大的时代里，开始了她们的人生和营生。车轮滚滚，人生如流……

Genres: China, Nonfiction

296 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2020

About the author

Yan Lianke (simplified Chinese: 阎连科; traditional Chinese: 閻連科; pinyin: Yán Liánkē; Wade–Giles: Yen Lien-k'e, born 1958) is a Chinese writer of novels and short stories based in Beijing. His work is highly satirical, which has resulted in some of his most renowned works being banned.

He started writing in 1978 and his works include: Xia Riluo (夏日落), Serve the People (为人民服务), Enjoyment (受活), and Dream of Ding Village (丁庄梦). He has also published more than ten volumes of short stories. Enjoyment, which was published in 2004, received wide acclaim in China. His literature has been published in various nations, and some of his works have been banned in China.

(Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, thank you to Netgalley and Verso books for allowing me to read this book early. I have already pre-odered it so I can have a physical copy on my shelf, but I was so excited to read this. This was definitely my most anticipated release of 2026.

In the preface of this book, Yan describes how long he waited to write this book after the successful publication of his book Three Brothers, which is about him and his father's generation. Three Brothers was one of my favorite books when I read it last year, so I was extremely looking forward to reading The Women, and it did not disappoint.

Along with even more anecdotes about Yan's life growing up, we also get a lot of insight into what life is like/was like for women in a small village in Henan. I think Yan also does a good job not speaking over women and feminist voices. He quotes a lot of prominent feminist authors and interviewed quite a few women for this book as well. There are a few lines here and there that had me raising my eyebrows (like the quote from Blindness by Saramago), but overall I still think this is a moving and thought-provoking collection of essays.

There are several parts to this book, but in my opinion the family member chapters were the most captivating. I loved reading about Yan's relationship with his sisters, his aunts, and his mother. You can really feel how highly he regards these family members in the way he discusses them. Despite never having met his aunts, I feel close with them. On the other hand, The Third Sex was the chapter that I'm most unsure about. I like a lot of the things Yan has to say in this chapter, but the premise confused me a bit. Maybe I just didn't understand the concept of the third sex being "female otherness". At the same time, I appreciated a lot of the discussions and points brought up in this section, so my overall impression is still positive. I saved the most quotes from this part.

The last story in The Women is a short afterword about Yan taking his granddaughter to the park and I think it is the perfect story to end the collection.

Overall I loved this. I think the translation is great, the content is great, and I can't wait to read it again and annotate it.

[Amie Song · Rating 3 out of 5]

要给这本书打分其实很难，总觉得以一个男人的视角去试图审视理解那些女人的命运有些别扭。真诚或不真诚的愧疚与反思让这本书更像是一个外来者的观察笔记，而非真实写照。

可是她们的故事又有谁来诉说呢？
那些一路上走失的故事，消逝的故事。

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review pending in FOREWORD BOOK REVIEWS.

[Issie’s books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley for my honest review.

When I read the description for this book I was immediately hooked. Women’s history in China or even China’s history in general is something I know shockingly little about. So when I saw this on the Netgalley find titles page I was incredibly happy when my request was fulfilled.

As I already said this is a book about Women’s history in China, but really this is much more than that. It is the family history of Yan Lianke, on top of that the book shows a broad view of culture and social standards and practices in China. I think the combination of this being part memoir and part history book is what makes this book so interesting. The memoir part makes it a lot more personal than just reading a history book. It makes you think about how things actually were and the people who went through it and their thoughts and feelings.

At first you might not completely get the book, it takes a good few pages to really understand where the author is going. This book is very lyrical it has loads of beautiful observations of everyday life. Reflecting the good and the bad of these people’s days. I think the part of this book I found the most interesting is the part of the matchmaking. That is obviously something that is often known outside of China, but this book goes deeper into the themes surrounding it. It shows how matchmakers were (and are) an integral part of especially village life. How people relied on matchmakers and how they were grateful for everything they did. The author also tries to find the change matchmaking went through, because of the big cultural changes in China, but also the pop culture. Which makes for an incredibly interesting read.

All in all I think this is a brilliant book. It is an incredibly powerful story giving a voice to things that have been forgotten or never were known. (For people not living in the situation) This has made me really interested in China’s history and especially its women’s history.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intressant om kvinnor på den kinesiska landsbygden. Saknar dock en hel del kulturella referenser för att verkligen förstå allt, även om det stora mänskliga framträder. Sen är det såklart grejen med att en man berättar om det som skaver något - även om det mellan raderna framgår att författaren är medveten om det och skälen till att det ändå skrivs på något sätt framträder i epilogen om hans sondotter. Att han som man beskriver kvinnornas situation gör också att det liksom finns en distans till det som är både positiv och negativ. Vill dock definitivt ha mer och är glad att jag läst den! Också: vill läsa mer om kina.

Vissa saker lämnas även okommenterat - som varför är hans fru ingen som beskrivs - det är förmodligen för att hon är för nära eller något men man vill ju läsa förklaringen.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tankeväckande, ärlig, jordnära.

Det känns som att jag suttit och lyssnat till en klok morfar som berättat historier om svunna tider. Han (Lianke) målar okonstlat upp minnen och tankar kring kvinnor som haft sitt öde bundet i den kinesiska jorden. Till dessa kvinnors liv är vi bara åskådare, men ändå infinner sig en förunderlig känsla av nostalgi och relaterbarhet.

I sin helhet saknade jag en röd tråd. Men som han själv sa var en sammanhängande historia inte hans intention. Jag förnimmer snarare ett annat syfte, någon form av existentiell poesi.

Jag hade gärna läst den på kinesiska. Det hade varit vackert.

7/10

[Lei Zhang · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give 0 or negative if I can. This book is toxic. It’s not about the women but all about the author himself. “ 而为了解决家里种地无人手、父母需要照顾这实在中的实，常给父亲看病的医生出了一个好主意，说尽快给连科找个对象让他结个婚，什么问题就都解决了，家里有人照顾了，他也可以回到部队提干了。 … 倒是两全其美的事——可我的人生之愿是离开土地要到城里安家呀！” To find a wife to take care of his parents so that he can get a better career. What a smart and sick solution.

“我是一个人生的路盲、色盲、语言盲，也还是人生两性中的爱情盲。在《失明症漫记》那部著作里，作家写到失明者中的女性被人强奸时，那女性愤怒地反省思考道：“最惧怕的倒不是遭受强暴⋯⋯最糟糕的是我们有快感！“萨拉马戈是真的了解人，知道人。识人如同人知天象字宙的不可测。” Excuse me?! The woman enjoyed the rape? WTF!

It makes me sick to look at this book.

[Agnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Svårbedömd, kanske 2,5. Känns ändå lite skevt att Yan Lianke som man skriver om kvinnor, även om han är medveten om detta själv. Emellanåt, främst i början, tyckte jag titeln var missvisande och mest handlade om honom själv. Ganska ordtung, lite för redogörande och jag tröttnade på alla naturliknelser, trots att de samtidigt kändes talande för samhället som beskrevs. Men ändå intressant, skildringen av den bokätande suggan var ett roligt plus

[Nayeon Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little wordy.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tröttnade och gav upp efter 93 sidor

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intressanta och minnesvärda anekdoter om kvinnors situation i Kina. Tyvärr förväntade jag mig romanformen, som drömmar om byn Ding, varför jag blev lite besviken.

[Erik Törnkvist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intressant bok att läsa utan tydlig A till B-kronologi utan med betraktelser/delar som målar en helhet. Om Kina, könsroller och kvinnors livsöden. En hel del roliga och fina formuleringar!

[Ellie Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

“The Women” is a thoughtful and moving memoir of the women that shaped Yan Lianke. At its best, it’s a sharp reflection on the role of women in modern China and the invisibility and tedium of their lives. At the same time, the writing reveals the limitations of a book written by a man: the way so much of his sisters, aunts and mother’s life—their decisions, motivations, and inner lives—are hidden from him, intentionally or otherwise.

Lianke makes the intentional decision not to interview the surviving women in his family, but rather to reflect on his memory as it is. I struggled with this decision, because I feel as if the same lack of agency afforded to these women in their lives is denied to them in their remembrance on the page. There are parts of the story where Lianke venerates the resilience and strength of his mother and other women. Certainly, they were strong—but what other choice did they have? Lianke does reflect on this lack of agency but I feel like it is impossible to read this story as anything more than yet another story about women written by a man.

At the same time that I struggled with this aspect of the book, I also deeply appreciated the story that was being told. In such a transformative period of China’s history when so many people living in rural areas were illiterate, it’s extremely valuable to have the stories of these women preserved. The final section of the book which included several local stories felt a bit abrupt—I did enjoy reading them but wished the structure was a bit cleaner and kept the spotlight on the family members.

[kw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book already a fan of Yan Lianke's writing, having loved Three Brothers — his earlier memoir about his father's generation — so my expectations going in were high. For the most part, The Women delivered, though it's a book that takes some adjusting to structurally. It moves from intimate family recollections into broader philosophical territory about womanhood as a social construct, then into loosely connected regional stories, before closing with a tender coda about his granddaughter. That range is ambitious, but it also means the book doesn't always feel like a single, cohesive work.
The family chapters are, without question, the heart of the collection. Yan writes about his sisters, aunts, and mother with such warmth and respect that I felt like I knew these women myself, despite never having met them — the section about gathering coal with his second sister especially stands out as the strongest piece in the whole book. That said, there's something worth sitting with in how he refers to them: never by name, only as "first sister," "second sister," "first aunt," and so on. It's hard to know whether that's a deliberate device or an unconscious echo of the very patriarchal erasure he's trying to examine — either way, it nags at you.
To his credit, Yan seems aware of the limits of his own perspective. He's upfront that he's telling these stories as a man who can't fully access these women's inner lives, and he leans on quotes from feminist writers and interviews with women from his region to broaden the lens beyond his own. It mostly works — though I found myself wishing he'd gone further and let his own sisters and aunts speak in their own words rather than filtering everything through his memory of them.
The section I'm most torn on is "The Third Sex." There's a lot of genuinely interesting material in it, and I ended up highlighting more from this chapter than any other, but the central premise — female otherness as a kind of "third sex" — never fully clicked for me. A few reference points, like the nod to Saramago's Blindness, also gave me pause. Still, the ideas raised there stayed with me even where I wasn't sure I agreed with the framing.
The book's final piece, a short afterword about Yan taking his granddaughter to the park, is a lovely way to close things out — quiet and grounding after everything that comes before.
Structural unevenness aside, this is a thoughtful, often moving collection, and the translation reads beautifully. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in women's experience in modern China, and in the imperfect, self-aware ways a man might try to bear witness to lives he can only partly understand. I'm already looking forward to rereading it with a pen in hand.

[KRISTEN CONNELL]

The Women is an intimate and deeply significant work that uses the lives of women in Yan Lianke’s own world to illuminate a much larger story: the social history of China across a period of extraordinary hardship and transformation.

Part memoir and part literary nonfiction, the book focuses particularly on the harsh realities experienced by women in rural China during the 1970s and 1980s. Rather than approaching that history through statistics or political abstraction, Lianke brings it to life through the women whose labor, sacrifices, and resilience shaped his own upbringing and experience.

One of the book’s most compelling dimensions is its examination of invisible labor. In a society where rural life could reduce a person to their capacity as a worker, women often carried enormous burdens while receiving little recognition for what they contributed. Their hardship could become normalized and their labor diminished, even as families and communities depended upon it.

Lianke's approach appears to balance humor and tragedy, allowing these women to emerge not merely as victims of their circumstances but as complex human beings with personalities, relationships, endurance, and stories of their own.

The personal perspective also gives the book unusual emotional power. By writing about the women who shaped his life, Lianke turns social critique into something deeply human. Their individual experiences become a lens through which readers can consider gender, poverty, labor, family, culture, and the changing face of modern China.

For Western readers in particular, the book offers an opportunity to encounter aspects of rural Chinese life that are rarely represented with this degree of personal intimacy.

The author's literary reputation further strengthens the book's potential. As an award-winning novelist and a writer twice shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Lianke already brings substantial literary credibility to a work that is both personal and socially observant.

With publication expected on October 27, 2026, The Women has a timely opportunity to build anticipation among readers of literary nonfiction, memoir, women's history, Chinese literature, and international writing.

Ultimately, the book's strongest hook is its scale: a portrait of an entire century of China told through the women whose lives, labor, suffering, and resilience often went unseen.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be affecting and gentle. I loved the sections about family. They felt organically written and the sentiments were an interesting insight into the culture Yan Lianke lived through and grew up in. A cosy read.

[sundazing · Rating 5 out of 5]

thank you for the ARC. i feel honoured to have read this story. it really touched me. i would place this book into the hands of every woman i know. so beautifully written too.