To The East of the East Book Review

by Catalina Bonati

1.75/ 5 stars ★★☆☆☆

To the East of the East by Ping Lu and translated by Jeremy Tiang (to be published October 2026) is a translated literary fiction novel about Min-Hui, a Taiwanese writer who after the disappearance of her husband, Chien-I, a Taiwanese businessman, must stay in Beijing to help authorities figure out his whereabouts. She meets a strange man named Shangjun who begins to accompany her in conversation in her hotel room every day, which makes her question her relationship to her own husband.

The novel is non-linear: Min-Hui narrates her present while also sharing chapters from her novel, set in the Qing Dynasty, and Chien-I also has his own point of view by writing letters to Min-Hui which he never sends. These characters are both upper class and Chien-I at least also comes from an upper class family, although not enough is known about Min-Hui to infer her background. Min-Hui, although the main character, is quite flat, and although the plot of the story centers around the search for Chien-I, she remains unbothered, uninvolved, and emotionally distant from both her husband and herself. She becomes intrigued by Shangjun, yet the reader learns about this from his own dialogue, rather than by being shown Min-Hui’s reactions or feelings. In Min-Hui’s story, nothing much happens, and most of her time is spent trapped in her own hotel room with Shangjun. Chien-I’s narrative, however, is much more interesting, which makes it frustrating that there was so little of this. Shangjun himself is a strange character—he is a rebel against the system and is “on the run” from authorities, but he comes across as a scammer and it is hard to see why Min-Hui is partial towards him. There are two stories within the main story of this book, that of Min-Hui’s historical novel and Chien-I’s letters, as has been mentioned. However, the historical novel has a tenuous connection to the present and tries to reflect on Chien-I’s relationship with his father, but the story itself drags along, as it has neither a compelling plot nor interesting dialogue. It does not add much dimension to the novel itself.

A major theme in this book is Taiwan-China cultural and economic relations. Min-Hui and Shangjun discuss Chinese prejudices against the Taiwanese, which Min-Hui experiences herself from her discussions with Beijing authorities. Beijing is worried that the disappearance of an important Taiwanese businessman will be detrimental to China-Taiwan relations, which is the main reason why Chien-I is being searched for. Min-Hui reminiscences about social norms in Taiwan versus in Beijing, which she portrays as gentler and more polite. In her novel, she discusses some of the origins of Taiwanese international trade, starting with the Dutch, the Portuguese, and China. These scenes are generally superficial, with no real exploration to any of the sociocultural reflections which are made.

Overall, this book tries to be an exploration of the continuous detriment of a marriage, yet it re-hashes the same reflection over and over and does not have much more to say. Min-Hui is a dull character to read about and Shangjun is a strange addition that does not really have much chemistry with Min-Hui and it is hard to believe anything that this character says. Chien-I is much more sentimental and reflective, and his story is more interesting, but even though he makes much more morally-questionable choices, it’s Min-Hui who is portrayed as the fallible character. At the end of this book, nothing is resolved and there is no meeting of the minds. The characters have not evolved nor have they really learned anything that they did not already know. To the East of the East is quite a flat novel that does not have enough exploration of any theme and comes across as superficial.