Female Cat

Name: Female Cat
ISBN: 9787559475121

盛可以Jun 2026

3.9

Word count: 140K words
Chapters: 11
ISBN: 9787559475121

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Summary

Female Cat is a new short story collection by the renowned writer Sheng Keyi, gathering ten stories she wrote over the past five years. The characters, drawn from all walks of life, mostly face dead ends, trapped in a vortex called life, unable to advance or retreat, with no way out. In "The Innocent Old Woman," a woman who has lost her only child can only ruminate on the past in a rented room; in "When Will You Forgive Your Father," an ordinary writer reconsiders the father-daughter relationship only after her father's death; in "Elderberry Jam," a man who uses contraception for the sake of the "happy marriage" he wants ends up divorced; in "Female Cat," a cat witnesses a couple's relationship go from harmony to the fading of love, while also scrutinizing the subtle psychology between the sexes; in "Occasional Art," an unforgettable love comes to an untimely end under the urban-rural divide... Unexpected endings and meticulous observation of ordinary people and events together create the distinctive textual tension of this work.

Editor's review

Sheng Keyi turns her lens on people at dead ends: a woman who has lost her only child, a writer looking back after her father's death, a man who uses contraception for marriage only to end up divorced, and a cat witnessing the fading of a couple's love. The ten stories seem to depict separate predicaments, yet they share a cold, precise way of observing—not rushing to offer characters a way out, but letting them expose their true hesitation and self-deception within life's vortex. The author's strength lies in detail: old memories endlessly ruminated over in a rented room, the subtle sexual tension seen through a cat's eyes—all rendered with restrained strokes that produce a dull ache. The unexpected endings are not mere showmanship; they push the reader away from habitual sympathy and force a reexamination of ordinary people and events. Best read story by story in quiet, uninterrupted stretches; afterward, pause and consider just where these characters are stuck. This is not a book that offers comfort, but for readers willing to confront life's complexity, its unflinching honesty is itself of value.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy contemporary Chinese short stories and value textual quality
Readers interested in women's experience and the psychology between the sexes
Readers who want to reflect on family relationships, bereavement, and midlife predicaments
Readers who hope to experience narrative tension and unexpected endings in short form

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting warm, healing stories with happy endings
Readers who prefer long, coherent narratives and are unused to the leaps of short stories
People hoping to find clear life answers or methods in a book

Reading tips

Read in the order of the stories, and notice how each ending's twist echoes the details planted earlier.
When reading "Female Cat," compare it with other stories to observe the author's different angles on sexual psychology.
Pause after every two or three stories, compare the characters' predicaments with your own experience, and don't rush to conclusions.
If the emotions feel heavy, start with the shorter, narrower stories before entering the bereavement themes.

版权信息
天真的老妇人
你什么时候原谅你的父亲
接骨木酱
女猫
偶发艺术
作家肖像
芳草长堤
太阳升起时的静脉曲张
令人不快的贝多芬
推空婴儿车的男人

FAQ

Are the stories in this book connected to one another?

The ten are independent short stories; the characters and plots do not share a single storyline, but they echo one another thematically: most depict people trapped by life, unable to advance or retreat. Read together, they make the author's consistent angle of observation and narrative rhythm regarding ordinary people and events all the clearer.

The endings are all unexpected—doesn't that feel contrived?

The book does often close with unexpected endings, but the twists rest on carefully planted details earlier on; the aim is to push the reader away from habitual expectations and see the characters' situations anew. Watch for the earlier foreshadowing as you read, and you will better appreciate the measure of such arrangements.

Will reading it feel very oppressive emotionally?

The subjects often involve losing an only child, bereavement, marital breakdown, and other predicaments; the overall tone is rather cold and offers no cheap comfort. But the author's style is restrained and her details precise, so the reading is a clear-eyed dull ache rather than an outpouring of heaviness. If you are emotionally sensitive, read in batches rather than all at once.

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About the author

盛可以 Author

Sheng Keyi is a Chinese fiction author whose publicly available personal information is currently limited: her nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background are not clearly documented, so this introduction is based only on the work held in the collection. The collection includes one work by her, Nü Mao (Female Cat), commonly classified as a social novel. This classification suggests that her writing leans toward realistic themes, focusing on the circumstances of characters and changing relationships in social life, and using fiction to present individual experience and feeling within social structures. Nü Mao is her representative work currently available and the main entry point for understanding her creative profile. Because public materials are limited, a full picture of her writing career and overall style cannot yet be drawn; readers may turn to this work to appreciate her narrative orientation and her perspective on society.