Shaolu Guo is an extraordinary chronicler of life in China and life in exile.
Where others look at the changes in China's infrastructure,
physical and economic growth, Shaolu's subject is internal growth.
and the lived Cuban experience.
This year, she's published her most ambitious book yet,
a retelling of Herman Melville's Moby Dick,
narrated by a woman and influenced by Buddhism and Taoism.
I'm Rosie Bloor, co-host of The Economist daily news podcast,
The Intelligence, and a former China correspondent.
Today,
I'm heading to Hackney in East London to meet Xiaolu Guo and ask her what it was like to grow up in China and how much the country has really changed emotionally and psychologically.
This is Drum Tower from The Economist.
Xiaolu, thank you so much for meeting with me today.
And thank you for welcoming me into your home.
You've written 10 books in English, many in Chinese,
and you've directed many films as well.
You were born in China in 1973.
And you have lived in Britain and the US and elsewhere.
You've lived outside China since 2002.
And I thought I would start by just going back to the beginning, really.