From one of world literature's most courageous voices, a novel about the human cost of China's one-child policy

Far away from the Chinese economic miracle, from the bright lights of Beijing and Shanghai, is a vast rural hinterland, where life goes on much as it has for generations, with one extraordinary difference: "normal" parents are permitted by the state to have only a single child. Written while Ma Jian traveled the rural backwaters of southwestern China, The Dark Road is the story of one such family, who makes the radical choice to defy the crackdown. A haunting and indelible portrait of the tragedies befalling women and families at the hands of China's one-child policy and of the human spirit's capacity to endure even the most brutal cruelty, The Dark Road is also a celebration of life, and of the fierce beauty born of courageous resistance to injustice.

"In 'The Dark Road,' as in "Beijing Coma," Mr. Ma is adept at jolting our senses, transporting us, with a few words about a pain, a taste or an odor, to those parts of China, and millions of people, who exist on the far fringes of the economic miracle. "-The New York Times

"[Ma Jian's] characterization is superb. A devastating critique of China's oppressive communist regime."-Mail on Sunday

"Unforgettable."-Sunday Telegraph

"Ma's work is a vital corrective and he writes here with insistent, focused anger."-Metro

"All of Ma's skill and playfulness are on display as the novel builds to a climax."-The Guardian

"A compellingly dark novel."-Glasgow Sunday Herald