Binu and the Great Wall — Su Tong

“A wonderful read -- with all of a fairy tale's leaps and turns and queer, vivid images” by the author of the international bestseller Raise the Red Lantern (The Observer).
 
In Peach village, crying was forbidden. But as a child, Binu never learned to hide her tears. Shunned by the villagers, she faced a bleak future until she met Qiliang, an orphan who offered her his hand in marriage.
 
Then, one day, Qiliang disappears. Binu learns that he has been transported hundreds of miles and forced to labor on a project of terrifying ambition and scale -- the building of the Great Wall of China. Unwilling to live a life without him, Binu courageously decides to find and save her husband.
 
Inspired by her love, she sets out on an extraordinary journey toward Great Swallow Mountain with only a blind frog for company. What follows is an adventure unlike any she could have ever imagined, in this “gripping, insightful . . . tragic tale of female strength and ultimately, love” (Time Out).