A Song to Drown Rivers

A Novel

By: Ann Liang

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick • An October 2024 Indie Next Pick • An October 2024 LibraryReads Pick

"Like Xishi, Naudus has an enchanting power: the ability to immerse listeners in an emotionally nuanced tale. Her talent is on full display here--and listeners will be as enthralled with it as Fuchai's royal court is with Xishi's great beauty."—AudioFile

“Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you.” —Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun

Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.

Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.

Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.

Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.

Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.

"Stunning and heart-rending." —Chloe Gong, #1 bestselling author of Immortal Longings

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

This needs to be made into a movie

This book is awesome. The story was so attention grabbing. I would love to have a movie based on this. The imagery in the pages are so vivid. i could imagine the sounds of the water rushing in the river and I could see the characters while I read. A great read!!!

Epic Story Richly Told

The language and the story are stunningly beautiful. This would be a great listen for a road trip. The narration is wonderful and honors the text.

lesson for modern times, beautifully told

really enjoyed the story, it grabbed me from the start. beautiful writing and storytelling. greater life lessons woven throughout and the mother's perspective on kings and kingdoms/national leaders/governments at the end is good schooling for modern times as well. agree with others who suggest this would be a great adaptation onscreen too!

Loved the myth retelling but could have written better

I felt like this was ACoTaR copy in writing style but with a different story

The characters

I am not a fan of sad endings. Some stories you just wished could come out happy.

Beautiful story of love and life

This is a beautifully written story of love and life with threads of history intertwined.

I recommend listening to this wounderful story

I enjoyed this heartfelt story so much. The narration of each character was excellent so much I had to sit and listen to the story clear to the end all in one night !

Good pace and keeps you wanting to read more.

Great narration and engaging plot. Enjoyed that it was a bit shorter than other books - no needless narration. Fun listen.

BRILLIANT!

I simply adored everything about this fascinating novel. The wonderful characters, the exciting plot and especially the romance.
Written so beautifully, I was enthralled every minute.
And the narrator, Natalie Naurus, is so perfect.
I would give this 10 stars!

Impactful story

Very impactful themes. Great story about revenge not being all that it cracked up to be, circle of violence, and blindly following leaders. The voice acting was amazing as well highly recommended.