The world’s largest bookfair, Frankfurter Buchmesse, opened its doors last October 16-20, 2024, in Frankfurt, Germany. For worldwide business and trading, it is regarded as the most significant book fair on earth. More than 4,300 exhibitors and an expected 114,000 trade visitors from 131 countries, welcoming rights professionals from a total of 355 agencies and publishers make the Frankfurt Book Fair a place of endless discoveries. On the stages we experienced exciting international voices.
As the Frankfurter Buchmesse celebrates its anniversary for another year of serving the industry, Citi of Books did not miss the chance to join the 76th Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse) in Frankfurt, Germany. This spectacular gathering honors fascinating works and their creators.
With a series of activities prepared, one of the most anticipated this year is the chosen country to be the guest of honor, which is Italy. The country will present not just its diverse, unique qualities as an attractive place to travel but also as a country with a rich literary tradition.
Citi of Books is excited to present books written by our distinguished authors. In our assigned booth, a range of books—from fiction to nonfiction—would be on exhibit. A book included in the gallery was “Hoo Lee Jing (Fox Fairy): A Novel” by Margaret Zee.
“Hoo Lee Jing (Fox Fairy): A Novel” is not an adequate translation of the Chinese “HULIJING”, which is a dangerous supernatural creature, a ghostly shapeshifter, cunning and wily as a fox, and irresistibly alluring as a beautiful woman. The HULIJING is an appropriate symbol for this story of love, longing, and deception, featuring the last days of the magical city of Old Peking.
Mrs. Eve Freeman, who was born and grew up in Peking, returns after World War II, seeking a renewal of faith in herself and in the possibility of love. She soon recognizes that her passion for the city itself is doomed; but in the next two years, while the Chinese communist army makes its way across North China to descend on Peking, Eve has much to learn about old loves and new loves, about old friends and enemies, and particularly about herself.
She rents a section of an ancient palace, known to be haunted by a hulijing, and converts it into a profitable boarding house, which becomes home for an interesting group of foreign travelers and “old China hands.”
The dreaded hulijing plays an important part in Eve’s quest and in her ultimate enlightenment.