A Map for the Missing

A Novel

By: Belinda Huijuan Tang

Narrated by: Austin Ku

Longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s 2022 First Novel Prize!

“Belinda Huijuan Tang’s debut novel is a beautifully drawn, sensitively rendered portrait of a man desperately searching for his father—and for reconnection to the past and people he once knew and loved. Both rich in historical detail and timeless in scope, A Map for the Missing explores the costs of choosing your own path, whether what’s left behind can ever be retrieved, and whether it is possible to forgive the wounds we inevitably inflict on each other.” —Celeste Ng, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere

“An engrossing saga of a young mathematician caught between two countries, two cultures, two eras, and two loves. Set against the violent turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, this powerful debut explores the wrenching impact of political ideologies on individual lives in a way that is resonant and timely.” —Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness and A Tale for the Time Being

An epic, mesmerizing debut novel set against a rapidly changing post–Cultural Revolution China, A Map for the Missing reckons with the costs of pursuing one’s dreams and the lives we leave behind

Tang Yitian has been living in America, estranged from his family, for almost a decade when he receives an urgent phone call from his mother: his father has disappeared from the family’s rural village in China. When Yitian returns home and attempts to piece together what may have happened, he struggles to navigate the country’s impenetrable bureaucracy as an outsider. So he seeks out a childhood friend: Tian Hanwen, who as a teenager was “sent down” from Shanghai to Yitian’s village as part of China’s rustication campaign. Young and in love, they dreamed of attending university together. But after a terrible tragedy, their paths diverged, and while Yitian ended up a professor in America, Hanwen was left behind.

Reuniting for the first time as adults, Yitian and Hanwen embark on a search for Yitian’s father, all the while grappling with the past and what might have been. Spanning the late 1970s to 1990s and moving effortlessly between rural provinces and big cities, A Map for the Missing is a deeply felt examination of family and forgiveness, and the meaning of home.

Beautiful debut novel

Such a gift to help me deal with my feelings about being in a different country, away from my parents. So much more here to unpack. The relationship dynamics and the starkness between cultures are so well crafted.

Father and son

A great book telling a story about father and son live through the dark times. The bond is always there.

map of the missing

loved it. loved the narration. loved the context supported by historical background. loved the title which was explained further into the story.

Beautiful story, distractingly poor narration

Title says it all: This is an interesting, engaging, pleasant work of historical fiction that I enjoyed tremendously...when I wasn't entirely distracted by the abysmal characterizations from the narrator. His basic delivery is fine, lacking in charisma and subtlety, but okay. When, however, he speaks as a character, especially a female character, well, let's just say he'd be a favorite for a Golden Raspberry if they had an audio book narration category. If you're on the fence on format and want to focus on the story - go for the print. If, like me, you'd probably never sit down long enough to read this in print and can muster a sense of humor about clichéd dialogue delivery, then go for this audiobook, and have a laugh or two at the tone deaf intonations.

Disappointing

The story was fairly interesting, but I almost gave up and returned this book because of the narration. The various voices were so irritating and poorly done. I do not understand why the narrator felt this was necessary rather than just maintaining his normal voice for all the characters. Is there no one to edit the final product?