Welcome to Litsy!

First audio of the year! So many things to say on parenthood, especially motherhood, and the division of labor inside the home. We follow four couples in a sort of new, experimental government apartment complex. They have all pledged to have three children in ten years and raise the children communally. Of course opinions differ on the best way to rear children, be a neighbor, and be a partner. No one minds their own business, but that‘s the plan.

The latest book by Gu, author of The Old Woman with the Knife, translated into English is a story about four families who move into a government sponsored communal living building. What should be an idyllic home in the countryside becomes something else as each of the young couples struggle, in different ways, to acclimate to their new home & new lives. A quiet book about relationships, how they are maintained & sometimes fracture. A good read.

Morning reading