Tomb Sweeping

A playful and deeply affective short story collection about the histories, technologies, and generational divides that shape our relationships&#8212,from the award-winning writer of&#160,Days of Distraction

Compelling and perceptive, Tomb Sweeping&#160,probes the loyalties we hold: to relatives, to strangers, and to ourselves.&#160,In stories set across the US and Asia, Alexandra Chang immerses us in the lives of immigrant families, grocery store employees, expecting parents, and guileless lab assistants.

A woman known only to her neighbors as &#8220,the Asian recycling lady&#8221, collects bottles from the streets she calls home. A young college grad ponders the void left from a broken friendship. An unfulfilled housewife in Shanghai finds a secret outlet for her ambitions in an undercover gambling den. Two strangers become something more through the bond of mistaken identity.

These characters, adeptly attuned to the mystery of living,&#160,invite us to consider whether it is possible for anyone to entirely do right by another. Tomb Sweeping&#160,brims with remarkable skill and talent in every story, keeping a definitive pulse on loss, community, and what it means to feel fully alive. With her debut story collection, Chang further establishes herself as &#8220,a writer to watch&#8221, (New York Times Book Review).&#160,.