Wang Mojie’s dreams wilted in the Beijing heat. Leaving his failed marriage behind, he seeks meaning in Lhasa. Instead, he finds Ukyi Lhamo. The soul of every party, her studied Parisian charms hide an inner rootlessness as she searches for her grandmother, the key to her lost Tibetan heritage.

Crossing paths among a gathering of self-exiled intellectuals living among the cool mountains, the two find themselves on the sidelines of a fierce philosophical debate. However, as Wang Mojie’s masochistic fantasies resurface, can they cling to what they mutually lack? Or was it never possible to make peace with zero?

"Experimental, ambitious" - WIRED

"Sardonic and erudite, it’s the only major literary treatment of Sino-Tibetan relations to appear in English in decades."\ - Andrew Rule, The Spectator

"At its heart …, this is a novel that contrasts alternative ways of being: the rigour of French philosophy duels with ancient Tibetan spirituality" - Rónán Hession, The Irish Times

Ning Ken was born in Beijing in 1959. His major works include The City of Masks, Tibetan Sky and Three Trios. For many years, he was the executive deputy editor of the literary magazine October, and he is now a professional writer at the Lao She Literary Institute. He has been nominated for the Lao She Literary Award, the 2014 Asia Weekly Top Ten Novels and the U.S. Newman Literary Award.