Hometown Everywhere

Name: Hometown Everywhere
ISBN: 9787559481535

Wang AnyiJun 2026

4.2

Word count: 79K words
Chapters: 9
ISBN: 9787559481535

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Summary

A volume in the Women's "Short Classics" series, *Everywhere the Hometown* gathers five of Wang Anyi's most representative stories from across her career: "Rain, Pattering Down," "Tonsure," "Hair Salon Talk," "Sisters' Path," and "Everywhere the Hometown," plus an extra essay by Wang on her craft, "How Literary Creation Begins." The works collected here span the various stages of Wang Anyi's writing, offering a glimpse of how her thinking on women's fate shifts from period to period. From Wenwen in the early "Rain, Pattering Down," full of longing and expectation for love and life, to Nanny Yue'e in the recent "Everywhere the Hometown," scraping by as she moves through the bustling city, the author always depicts the many figures of everyday life with the truest brushstrokes. Wang Anyi's fiction is delicate and cuts straight to the heart; she holds to a warm yet resilient attitude toward life, creating one after another splendid work—varied in form, uniquely resonant, and deeply moving.

Editor's review

This book places Wang Anyi's stories from different periods side by side, spanning from Wenwen in the early "Rain, Pattering Down," full of longing and expectation for love and life, all the way to Nanny Yue'e in the recent "Everywhere the Hometown," scraping by as she moves through the bustling city, so that in a single reading you can see how she keeps her attention on women's fate and on ordinary people in everyday life. The five stories vary in subject, yet the brushwork is always delicate and cuts straight to the heart, holding to a warm yet resilient attitude toward life; they do not win by dramatic conflict but accumulate, in the details, a power that moves the reader. The volume closes with "How Literary Creation Begins," especially useful for readers who want to understand where her writing began and what she believes about literature. It suits slow reading in quiet hours, one story at a time, to feel how the characters' circumstances change, and it also works as an introductory selection for getting to know Wang Anyi's fictional style.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want a systematic understanding of Wang Anyi's fiction across different creative periods
Literature lovers interested in writing about women's fate and the narrative of everyday life
Readers who need a short-story selection for classroom discussion or a reading group
General readers who enjoy delicate, realistic fiction with a gentle pace

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plots, fast pacing, and dramatic conflict
Readers who want only full-length novels and would rather not read a short-story collection

Reading tips

Read from the early works to the recent ones in the order given, watching how the female figures and their circumstances change.
Pause after each story to note the characters' personalities and choices as revealed in everyday details.
Save the craft essay for last, then look back at points in the earlier stories that can be set against the ideas in it.

版权信息
序言我们为什么写作？
雨，沙沙沙
剃度
发廊情话
姊妹行
乡关处处
文学创作的开始
写作与个人经历的距离

FAQ

Which works are collected in this book?

It collects five stories—"Rain, Pattering Down," "Tonsure," "Hair Salon Talk," "Sisters' Path," and "Everywhere the Hometown"—plus an essay by Wang Anyi on her craft, "How Literary Creation Begins."

I haven't read any of Wang Anyi's work. Can I start with this book?

Yes. The selected works span different stages of her career and are short stories, making this a suitable introductory selection for understanding her thematic concerns and narrative style.

When is the best time to read the craft essay?

Read the stories first, then "How Literary Creation Begins"; that way you can set the ideas in the essay against the specific works before it, and your understanding will be more concrete.

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About the author

Wang Anyi Author · Chinese · 1954

Wang Anyi is a contemporary Chinese woman writer born on March 6, 1954, in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Her ancestral home is Tong'an, Fujian, and she grew up in Shanghai. She once worked as an editor at Children's Era, later became a professional writer and chair of the Shanghai Writers Association, and is a professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Fudan University. Her representative works include The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, Xiaobaozhuang, Fact and Fiction, and Tianxiang, among which The Song of Everlasting Sorrow won the fifth Mao Dun Literature Prize. Her writing spans social fiction, classic works, essays, and literary appreciation, and also includes travel observations from Germany and reflections on reading and writing. Her works often focus on urban life and individual destiny, with meticulous prose and unhurried narration, exerting a profound influence on contemporary Chinese literature.