Submissions Guidelines. The novel takes its name from the two halves of the city of Shanghai β Pudong east of the Huangpu River and Puxi west of the Huangpu β where segments of the narrative takes place.
Told in an exquisite literary yet strikingly accessible style, the novel interweaves the stories of the two main protagonists with aplomb. During her upbringing in Shanghai, she lived in both the colonial-era concessions of Puxi and the futuristic skyscrapers of Pudong, only coming to understand the dichotomies and divisions of the city until she was a teenager.
It is partly her unique insight into a biracial, third-culture identity played out in a city like Shanghai that powers River East, River West.
The characters experience and embody many of the divisions of modern China itself. Then, the focus shifts to Qingdao, in , where Lu Fang is a lowly shipping clerk who harbours hopes for a brighter future despite being haunted by memories of the Cultural Revolution. With China opening up to foreigners and capital, Lu Fang meets an American woman β Sloan β who shifts his perspective and makes him question his life trajectory. Decades later, Lu Fang marries Sloan, forcing him and Alva together as step-father and step-daughter.
Her writing is sharp, dry, and often witty, with an unfussy empathy that makes the characters appealing even in their darker moments. Yet outside of the microcosm of quotidian dramas, Lescure paints with wider brushstrokes a portrait of a country that is as complex and multifaceted as the novel itself.
