Barefoot Doctor

In rural Yun Village, herbalist Mrs. Yi lives with her husband in a cottage at the foot of Niulan Mountain, where she gathers herbs to treat the ailments of the villagers by day & studies medicine by night. Sickness & herbs are lovers, she tells her patients, rejoicing when they recover, comforting them when they do not. All the while, she hopes to find a worthy successor to take up her mantle. As curious younger villagers observe Mrs. Yi & begin imitating her work—planting gardens & studying the art of healing—they soon discover that the line dividing life from death is porous, & the mountain is more mysterious than they ever knew. 

Drawing on her experiences as a barefoot doctor in her youth, Can Xue returns with a transporting novel that alights in the in-between spaces: between the living and the dead, healer & sick, nature & us.

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Can Xue is the pseudonym of the renowned avant‑garde author Deng Xiaohua. Can Xue was longlisted for the 2019 Booker International Prize for Love in the New Millennium, translated by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen. Can Xue’s other work includes Five Spice Street, Vertical Motion, The Last Lover, Frontier, & I Live in the Slums.