So revered is Chinese author Mo Yan’s body of work that he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012. Frog was published in Chinese in 2009 and has now been translated by Howard Goldblatt into English. This is wonderful for lovers of great literature and Sinophiles alike.

Not only does Frog tell a story in the warmest and most personal of ways, it also encompasses Chinese history and politics. The book is narrated by a playwright, Tadpole, who describes the life of his aunt, Gugu, the first professional midwife in their rural township. Beginning her career in 1953, prior to the Cultural Revolution, Gugu is soon in demand after her skills are shown to be far safer and superior to the self-fashioned midwifes in the area. Gugu is tireless and feisty, riding her bike everywhere accompanied by her assistant, ‘Little Lion’.

When the one-child policy is introduced to halt the population boom, devoted Communist party member Gugu feels it is her duty (to her party and country) to enforce it. She lectures on family planning, becomes an advocate of all forms of contraception and performs abortions. She clashes with locals who who want big families to assist with farming. Gugu’s vehemence only results in her becoming reviled. When, a few years later, Tadpole is called home from the army because his wife is unexpectedly pregnant with their second child, the personal and political collide.

Mo Yan reputedly feels strongly about the one-child policy, believing it would have been better for his daughter to have had a sibling. His exploration of the issue through fiction is compelling and highly recommended for those who like family and historical sagas, or the work of Amy Tan or Jhumpa Lahiri.

Annie Condon