by Yang Hao

Translated from the Chinese by Nicky Harman and Michael Day

Suwei is a teenage hermit with an overprotective mother and an addiction to video games. One day, another young man penetrates Suwei’s hermetically sealed existence, and the two wander deep into the labyrinth of Diablo’s virtual world. As Suwei and this enigmatic interloper, Li Wen, form an unspoken bond, secrets are laid bare, layer by layer: the damage done to Suwei and his mother’s guilt, and Li Wen’s own gruesome past. These two boys, neither of whom ever really grew up, find themselves on a collision course, drawn inexorably together by an undeniable truth: There is no escaping a mother’s love.

“The protagonists in this novel have plumbed the depths of human nature. As they wrestle with life’s dilemmas, the truths of a generation are revealed.” —Jia Zhangke, international award-winning film director

About the Author:

Yang Hao was born in Shanxi and grew up in Beijing. She studied film and art history and is now pursuing a PhD in comparative literature at Trinity College Dublin. In Chinese, she has published an essay collection, Into Renaissance, and two novels, Novel Noir and Diablo’s Boys. Her debut novel, Novel Noir, was shortlisted for the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Award in 2019. She currently lives in Dublin. Diablo’s Boys is her first work to be translated.

About the Translators:

Nicky Harman  lives in the UK. She has won several awards for Chinese literary translation, including the 2020 Special Book Award, China, the 2015 Mao Tai Cup People’s Literature Chinese-English translation prize, and the 2013 China International Translation Contest, Chinese-to-English section. When not translating, she promotes contemporary Chinese fiction through teaching, blogs, talks and her work on Paper-Republic.org.

Michael Day is a traveller, translator, and writer who lives in Los Angeles and Mexico City. His awards include the 2015 Bai Meigui Translation Prize and the 2020 Jules Chametzky Translation Prize. His work has appeared in Georgia Review, Massachusetts Review, Words Without Borders, and Chicago Quarterly Review, among other publications.

ISBN: 978-1-913891-52-7
Publication date:  1 January 2025
Format: Paperback (Demy octavo) 216mm x 138mm
Pages: 244 pp