“A powerful and mesmerizing novel, both mythic and intimate. Sam Meekings has a maturity of insight and theme not commonly found in a young writer. This is a masterful accomplishment of imagination, insight, and lyricism.” --Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club
“One of the great delights in life is the discovery of a new novelist of obvious talent. Sam Meekings’ debut novel, Under Fishbone Clouds is one such discovery – utterly beautiful and memorable… This is very fine storytelling that handles, with great care, life often at its most raw. Meekings presents us with the gift of a brilliant debut novel.” --Alexander McCall Smith, New York Times bestselling author of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series
“Meekings’s accomplished first novel is based on the lives of his Chinese wife’s grandparents. An unlikely love story set against the events of the last half-century in China, it’s a tale of terrible suffering that also manages to be a poetic evocation of the country and its people…His exuberance and verve win out. He imbues “Under Fishbone Clouds” with a magical atmosphere.” --The New York Times
"Meekings is a bangup storyteller, and his easy handling of rich and varied material--rustic splendor, class warfare, profound anguish, drastic social changes--will keep readers rapt. This is a beautifully told love story as well as an absorbing study in Chinese folklore and history." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"As utterly engrossing as it is well penned, this is a wonderful debut about the lengths that love can take us." --Booklist, starred review
"An affecting, useful revisiting of not-so-distant events, capably handled by a skillful, empathetic storyteller." --Kirkus
“Lavishly imagined and skillfully narrated.”
--The Independent (UK)
"Beautifully written, it is an enthralling debut." --Waterstones Book Quarterly
"Hails the arrival of an intriguing new talent." –Scotland Herald
“Nuanced, alert and intelligent” --Scotland on Sunday
“This intricate tale of love, folklore and one of the most turbulent and terrible times in modern history is as beautifully woven as a silk tapestry.” - The Lady
