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Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Madeleine Thien's novel won the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction and the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2016.

Madeleine Thien

CBC Books Posted: Feb 16, 2017 12:25 PM EST | Last Updated: July 15, 2019

Madeleine Thien's novel is breathtaking in scope and ambition even as it is hauntingly intimate. With the ease and skill of a master storyteller, Thien takes us inside an extended family in China, showing us the lives of two successive generations those who lived through Mao's Cultural Revolution in the mid-20th century; and the children of the survivors, who became the students protesting in Tiananmen Square in 1989, in one of the most important political moments of the past century. With exquisite writing sharpened by a surprising vein of wit and sly humour, Thien has crafted unforgettable characters who are by turns flinty and headstrong, dreamy and tender, foolish and wise. (From Alfred A. Knopf Canada)

In 2016,Do Not Say We Have Nothing won the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction and the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize. In 2017, the book was shortlisted for theBaileys Women's Prize for Fiction.

From the book

In a single year, my father left us twice. The first time, to end his marriage, and the second, when he took his own life. That year, 1989, my mother flew to Hong Kong and laid my father to rest in a cemetery near the Chinese border. Afterwards, distraught, she rushed home to Vancouver where I had been alone. I was ten years old.

From Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien 2016. Published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada.

Interviews with Madeliene Thien

The Next Chapter16:08Madeleine Thien on "Do Not Say We Have Nothing"

Madeleine Thien on her latest novel, which is long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

The Candy Palmater Show10:08Personal stories that inspired Madeleine Thien's Man Booker Prize-nominated novel

Canadian author Madeleine Thien's novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, was recently long-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Madeleine speaks to Candy about the personal inspiration behind the book.

Q9:32Madeleine Thien on her meaningful Governor General's Award win

The Canadian author discusses her recent Governor General's Award for fiction win for her novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing.

Q10:46Madeleine Thien scores another win with the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize

Canadian author Madeleine Thien follows up her Governor General's Award win with the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

More about Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Madeleine Thien: Do Not Say We Have Nothing

8 years ago

0:55

The Booker, Giller and Governor General Award-nominee reads an excerpt from her acclaimed new novel.

Candy Palmater reviews Do Not Say We Have Nothing