Q&A with Jennie Liu

From my Q&A with Jennie Liu, author of Like Spilled Water:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Having a daughter is like spilled water is an old, well-known saying in China that refers to the notion that sons are more valuable than girls, because traditionally once a daughter was married, she became part of her husband’s family. Despite Like Spilled Water’s setting in modern China, the insidious hold of this worn-out idea is evident in Na’s family from the start when we find that her brother has died.

About your previous novel, Girls on the Line, you said both main characters were relatable to you. Is that true of Na, the protagonist of Like Spilled Water, too?

I wrote Na, who was raised in the countryside by her Grandma, to be somewhat naïve, which I...[read on]

Visit Jennie Liu's website.

My Book, The Movie: Girls on the Line.

The Page 69 Test: Girls on the Line.

Girls on the Line Q&A with Jennie Liu.

Q&A with Jennie Liu.

--Marshal Zeringue