From one of China's most acclaimed and decorated writers comes a
powerful first-person account of life in Wuhan during the COVID-19
outbreak.
On January 25, 2020, after the central government imposed a lockdown in
Wuhan, acclaimed Chinese writer Fang Fang began publishing an online
diary. In the days and weeks that followed, Fang Fang's nightly postings
gave voice to the fears, frustrations, anger, and hope of millions of
her fellow citizens, reflecting on the psychological impact of forced
isolation, the role of the internet as both community lifeline and
source of misinformation, and most tragically, the lives of neighbors
and friends taken by the deadly virus.
A fascinating eyewitness account of events as they unfold, Wuhan Diary
captures the challenges of daily life and the changing moods and
emotions of being quarantined without reliable information. Fang Fang
finds solace in small domestic comforts and is inspired by the courage
of friends, health professionals and volunteers, as well as the
resilience and perseverance of Wuhan's nine million residents. But, by
claiming the writer´s duty to record she also speaks out against social
injustice, abuse of power, and other problems which impeded the response
to the epidemic and gets herself embroiled in online controversies
because of it.
As Fang Fang documents the beginning of the global health crisis in real
time, we are able to identify patterns and mistakes that many of the
countries dealing with the novel coronavirus have later repeated. She
reminds us that, in the face of the new virus, the plight of the
citizens of Wuhan is also that of citizens everywhere. As Fang Fang
writes: "The virus is the common enemy of humankind; that is a lesson
for all humanity. The only way we can conquer this virus and free
ourselves from its grip is for all members of humankind to work
together."
Blending the intimate and the epic, the profound and the quotidian,
Wuhan Diary is a remarkable record of an extraordinary time.
Translated from the Chinese by Michael Berry
