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The Incarnations: A Novel
in its Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged!
Here’s the set-up:
Hailed by The New York Times for its “wildly ambitious…dazzling use of language” and “mesmerizing storytelling,” The Incarnations is a “brilliant, mind-expanding, and wildly original novel” (Chris Cleave) about a Beijing taxi driver whose past incarnations over one thousand years haunt him through searing letters sent by his mysterious soulmate.
Who are you? you must be wondering. I am your soulmate, your old friend, and I have come back to this city of sixteen million in search of you.
So begins the first letter that falls into Wang’s lap as he flips down the visor in his taxi. The letters that follow are filled with the stories of Wang’s previous lives—from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars, and being a teenager on the Red Guard during the cultural revolution—bound to his mysterious “soulmate,” spanning one thousand years of betrayal and intrigue.
As the letters continue to appear seemingly out of thin air, Wang becomes convinced that someone is watching him—someone who claims to have known him for over one thousand years. And with each letter, Wang feels the watcher growing closer and closer…
Seamlessly weaving Chinese folklore, history, and literary classics, The Incarnations is a taut and gripping novel that sheds light on the cyclical nature of history as it hints that the past is never truly settled.
Praise for The Incarnations:
“A page-turning reincarnation fantasy . . . Lush historical detail . . . A very memorable read.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A] stunning epic . . . Barker’s historical tour de force is simultaneously sweeping and precise. . . . Effortlessly blends the past with the present, dark humor with profound sadness. A deeply human masterpiece.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Barker’s remarkable new novel is ambitious in scope, scholarly in depth and absolutely riveting. The Incarnations works on a number of levels, pulling together so many strands of history and perspectives and drawing them into a compelling and convincing tale. Part history, part love story, with good doses of horror, comedy and philosophy, it is ultimately a thriller and a page-turner…. The effect is explosive.” —South China Morning Post
“Reads as China’s Midnight’s Children. An utterly remarkable novel, it is certainly a very different book from Rushdie’s but just as important in its historical and cultural sweep….Barker’s storytelling is lively and addictive….She has an eye for the absurd and darkly comic.” —The Independent (UK)
“Suspend your disbelief, flow along with this wonderful book, like the crazy traffic flowing around Beijing’s six ring roads…The book moves effortlessly from past to present and back again….Masterful.” —The Guardian (UK)
“Barker resembles David Mitchell in the ability to weave together past and present in a convincing, and ultimately intriguing, manner.”— Sydney Morning Herald