“The novel is an especially complex art form—a ‘diamond eye’ that views the world through a microscope. Xiaole’s intricate sensibility allows the complexity of the novel to truly emerge.” — Zhou Fenling, novelist and essayist, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chinese Literature at Tunghai University

★ A major work by a phenomenon-level author: Following Your Children Are Not Your Children and Privileged Children, Wu Xiaole once again brings her penetrating observational powers to bear, sharp-dissecting a cross-section of society.
★ Film and TV rights already sold: Before the book was even published, adaptation rights were acquired by an international streaming platform—highly anticipated!
★ Multi-language rights sold: Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Arabic rights already sold.
★ Profound women’s issues: Assault, family-of-origin trauma, domestic violence, slut-shaming, school bullying, psychological manipulation (PUA)… When all of these are concentrated upon a woman, how can her life continue? All their lives, they have been hiding a wound that will not heal.
★ Suspenseful twists × social dissection: Dual narrative threads, layer upon layer of reversals, using suspense techniques to portray the deep, dark abyss inside female victims.
★ Boldly explores taboos: Is it immoral “incest”? Or is it the all-too-common reality of “acquaintance sexual assault / intrafamilial sexual assault”? Wu Xiaole sharply cuts into the undercurrents flowing beneath the name of “desire,” probing the contradictions: Is a sexual assault victim entirely innocent? If she develops emotional ties to the perpetrator, does that mean she is no longer a “victim”? If her “first half of life” is destroyed by sexual assault, is she doomed to never live out her “second half”?

Everyone in this town lives carrying secrets.
Between him and me, there are almost no secrets.
Because I will always know why he did what he did…

Fan Yanzhong always believed there were no secrets between him and his wife Wu Xinping. But one day, his wife vanished.

Fan Yanzhong began his investigation from his wife’s workplace. The deeper he dug, the more he became entangled in a web of suspicion: his wife’s mother, whom he had been told was dead, suddenly appeared and revealed a part of Wu Xinping’s past—something had happened to her in the small town she came from.

All clues pointed to a prominent family in that conservative town—the Song family. Song Huaigu and Song Huaixuan, brother and sister. Song Huaixuan had been Wu Xinping’s close friend in high school. Song Huaigu was handsome, brilliant, a campus star.

Wu Xinping was quiet and low-key. She was Fan Yanzhong’s second wife. He didn’t like it when his wife asked about his past, and Wu Xinping felt the same way. Compared to his first marriage, Fan Yanzhong found his marriage to Wu Xinping comfortable and “well-matched.” He couldn’t help but recall the curse-like words of his ex-wife:

“Every woman who stays with you ends up being driven crazy by you.”

Where could Wu Xinping have gone? Where else could she possibly go?

In the end, all the secrets are hidden inside a box. About a pair of closely bonded siblings—Song Huaixuan and Song Huaigu. About a room. And about what happened behind that door…

Opening the box—does it lead to answers? Or does it plunge everyone into a darkness, into a truth so unspeakable it cannot be uttered aloud?

Wu Xiaole

Born in Taichung in 1989. Graduated from the Law Department of National Taiwan University. She loves parrots and enjoys observing things that others take for granted.

Her life originally went straight. Following the advice of family and friends, she chose not to pursue the path of language and literature, but instead filled in the form for a "bright" department, thinking she would be happy ever after. But she didn't expect that the more she studied, the more uncertain she felt, the more gloomy she became. Not long after graduation, she made a decision: she would not take the civil service exam in the near future, nor did she want to pursue legal work. The moment she made that decision, for the first time she felt her life derailed and directionless.

At eighteen, she met her second student, and the experience was so wonderful that she began a life of teaching in different people's homes. At twenty-two, afraid that staying at home would lead to wild thoughts, she took on a bunch of cases to fill up her schedule. As the years passed, she has gathered many stories. With a mix of surprise and delight, she writes them down, and while writing, she also repairs herself.

Published works include:

Your Children Are Not Your Children (adapted into a TV series of the same title, streamed globally on Netflix; simplified Chinese rights sold)
Privileged Children (film/TV rights and multiple language rights sold)
We Have No Secrets (film/TV rights, simplified Chinese, Korean, and Arabic rights sold)
Fatal Login (Korean and Arabic rights sold)
But I Just Don't Like It, and others