Moonlight Rests on My Left Palm: Poems and Essays

Yu Xiuhua was born with cerebral palsy in Hengdian village, Hubei Province, in Central China. Unable to attend college, travel, or work the land with her parents, Yu remained home where she could help with housework. Eventually she was forced into an arranged marriage that became abusive. She divorced her husband and moved back in with her parents, taking her son with her. Thematically organized, her essays and poems are in conversation with each other around subjects that include love, nostalgia, mortality, the natural world and writing itself. Starting with her viral poem 'Crossing Half of China to Fuck You', Yu Xiuhua's raw collection chronicles her life as a disabled, divorced, single mother in rural China.