“While it may not be karma, exactly, which brings consequences back to our door, there is a certain inevitability to it.”

This is my first encounter with Li’s work, and I am drawn instantly to the layers of complexity she navigates with sensitivity and intimacy, the lives of people earnestly struggling with tradition, the responsibility of dignity, global ennui, and governments corrupt enough to value none of it. At the heart of her stories are relationships, usually family, and the misaligned perceptions which motivate each character into honest pain.

There are few characters here one can renounce, several worthy of our sympathies, and none who walk completely blameless paths. Each of us is a creation of complicated pasts, flawed thinking, and our own choices. And while it may not be karma, exactly, which brings consequences back to our door, there is a certain inevitability to it.

Each story is beautifully crafted, twining past and present, micro from macro, to momentary resolution. Time to find more of her writing.