BBC World Book Club in Beijing: Lijia Zhang and Lotus.

A fascinating programme on the BBC's World Service.

"This month BBC World Book Club comes from Beijing with Lawrence Pollard. The programme is a guest of the Bookworm, three rooms and a roof terrace full of books in Chinese and English, a fixture on the literary scene here for over a decade. Bestselling Chinese writer Lijia Zhang answers questions about her novel Lotus. Lijia taught herself English while working in a missile factory in a bid to become a writer and a journalist, and she’s written Lotus in English. It’s a deeply researched picture of the people who look up at the economic miracle from beneath and their struggles for dignity, love and a future they can believe in".