As the sun starts slowly disappearing, the residents of a remote town in the desert find themselves undergoing shocking transformations in this dazzlingly eerie and bewitching novel

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 CLIMATE FICTION PRIZE

'A supremely confident and gifted writer' Katie Kitamura

In Five Poems Lake, a town surrounded by impenetrable deserts, the sun is slowly disappearing overhead. A young woman keeps an apprehensive eye on the sky above as she tends her family's pharmacy of traditional medicine. She has few customers, and even fewer visitors. Her father was found dead by the lake twelve years ago, in unexplained circumstances. Her elder sister, Dong Ji, works at a wellness parlour across town for those who can afford it - which, during these strange and difficult days, is not many.

The town fell on hard times long before the sun began to shrink. But now, as the temperature drops and the lake freezes over, the inhabitants of the town realise there is no way they can survive. When the Beacons appear - ordinary people with heads replaced by searing, blinding light, like miniature suns - the residents wonder if they may hold the answer to their salvation, or if they are just another sign of impending ruin. Soon, Dong Ji and her sister will uncover a photograph which may offer a clue in the mystery of the Beacons, and finally help them learn what happened to their father.


READERS LOVE SUNBIRTH
'A bittersweet, moving and strange ... about what it means to truly live'
'Very beautiful, serene and thoughtful'
'If you liked I Who Have Never Known Men ... then this might be your next 5 star read'
'If you've enjoyed Yoko Ogawa this one may be for you'

PRAISE FOR AN YU
'Rich and wild... it gets under your skin' Observer
'Profound' Guardian
'Beautiful' New Statesman
'Seductive' Daily Mail
'Spellbinding' New York Times
'Steeped in atmosphere' Mail on Sunday