The Walking Boy

The Walking Boy is a quest novel set in early eighth-centuryTang Dynasty China, in the final days of the rule of the first Female EmperorWu Zhao. The ailing hermit monk Harelip sends his disciple Baoshi on apilgrimage from Mount Hua to Chang'an, the Western capital; Baoshi is the 'walkingboy' charged with locating Harelip's missing former lover Ardhanari. Baoshilives with a secret only his Master knows, and he is filled with fears of beingdiscovered. On his journey, Baoshi crosses paths with both commoners and imperialofficials, as well as others who take delight in their queer identities; indoing so, he is released powerfully from his past shame.

The Walking Boy is a book of quiet subversion, upendingclassical Chinese tropes with contemporary ideas around gender and feminism. Filledwith psychological complexities, magic and poetic allusions to classicalChinese literature, The Walking Boyexplores the intrigue of inner alchemy while exorcising the ghosts of history.

'In The Walking Boy, Kwa's world-building is meticulous andrich, her characters both intellectually gripping and incredibly sensual, andshe puts her signature subversive queer, feminist spin on the narrative.' - Amber Dawn, author of Sodom Road Exit

'At the court, at the caves, in the cities and the mountains,secrets and mysteries abound. This novel has it all, palace intrigues,betrayals, spirits, enlightenment, magic, and visual and sensual delights. Adiverse cast of fascinating characters and, page after page, poeticpronouncements to guide one, to live and to die by. I was spellbound to theend, and when it came, I didn't want to leave the world of Kwa's The WalkingBoy.' - Shani Mootoo, author of Moving Forward Sideways, Like a Crab