Born in 1963 in Suzhou and now living in Beijing with his family, Su Tong is one of China's most celebrated bestselling authors, shooting to international fame in 1993 when Zhang Yimou's film of his novella Raise the Red Lantern was nominated for an Oscar. Madwoman on the Bridge is his first collection of short stories ever to be published. It is to be followed by his latest novel, Check, a violent drama set in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, to be published by Doubleday in 2009.

'Su Tong writes beautiful, dangerous prose' Meg Wolitzer

The madwoman on the bridge wears a historical gown which she refuses to take off. In the height of summer, to the derision of the townspeople, she stands madly on the bridge. Until a young female doctor, bewitched by the beauty of the madwoman's dress, plots to take it from her, with tragic consequences.

Set during the fall-out of the Cultural Revolution, these bizarre and delicate stories capture magnificently the collision of the old China of vanished dynasties, with communism and today's tiger economy.

From the folklorist who becomes the victim of his own rural research, to the doctor whose infertility treatment brings about the birth of a monster child, to a young thief who steals a red train only to have it stolen from him, Su Tong's stories are a scorching look at humanity.

'Su Tong is an imaginative and skilful storyteller' New York Times

'Overwhelming and imaginative virtuosity'
Rick Moody