The Number One Sunday Times BestsellerAn immersive, historical fantasy set in 14th-century China, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is a queer tale of love, loss, betrayal and triumph.'Magnificent in every way' – Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange TreeIn a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family’s eighth-born son, there’s greatness. For the second daughter, nothing.In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive. Zhu Chongba despairs and gives in. But the girl resolves to overcome her destiny. So she takes on her dead brother’s identity – and begins her journey.Can Zhu escape what is written in the stars, as rebellion sweeps the land? Can she claim her brother’s greatness – and rise, ruthlessly, to take the dragon throne?This is a glorious tale from a powerful new voice.She Who Became the Sun is a reimagining of the rise to power of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu was the real-life peasant rebel who expelled the Mongols, unified China under native rule, and became the founding Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.‘Epic, tragic and gorgeous’ – Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Shelley Parker-Chan is an Australian by way of Malaysia and New Zealand. A 2017 Tiptree Fellow, she is the author of the historical fantasy novel She Who Became the Sun. Parker-Chan spent nearly a decade working as a diplomat and international development adviser in South-East Asia, where she became addicted to epic East Asian historical TV dramas. After a failed search to find English-language book versions of these stories, she decided to write her own. Parker-Chan currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she is very grateful to never have to travel by leaky boat ever again.
Magnificent in every way. War, desire, vengeance, politics – Shelley Parker-Chan has perfectly measured each ingredient of this queer historical epic. Glinting with bright rays of wit and tenderness, yet unafraid to delve into the deep shadows of human ambition, She Who Became the Sun, like Zhu, is unquestionably destined for greatness
