Frontier (novel)


Frontier is a novel by Chinese avant-garde writer Can Xue. Set primarily in a location known as Pebble Town, it follows the misadventures of a group of loosely related characters that seem to be wandering in and out of each other's dreams. Each character seems to have arrived in Pebble Town for a different reason, and many are connected to an organization known as the Design Institute.
First published in China in 2008, Open Letter Books published an English translation by Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping in 2017.

Characters

The characters featured in the novel include:
Qiming — The lovesick custodian at the Design Institute who obsesses over a Uighur woman he once met.
Liujin — A character who lives alone and sells cloth at the market.
Marco — The only major character actually born in Pebble Town. Marco is obsessed with Holland.
Juan and Nancy — A married couple who travel to Pebble Town from Smoke City.
Ying — The only black man living in Pebble Town.