Underspin 9781529961478 Hardback

‘A staggeringly good debut, written with lan, compassion and wit’Kaliane Bradley, author ofThe Ministry of Time’Challengers, but make it table tennis’Lit Hub’An eruption of a debut . . . with meticulous precision and tremendous heart’Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author ofChain-Gang All-Stars’A superior force to be reckoned with’Neel Mukherjee, author ofThe Lives of OthersandChoiceRyan Lo begins playing table tennis aged eight. His brilliant but ruthless coach sees a talent in him that might be nurtured into greatness.Through an adolescence marked by hours of practice, matches away from home, clandestine relationships and a determination to win, Ryan ascends to the highest echelons of the game, just as he was supposed to.But here he is now, dead before his twenty-fifth birthday, leaving grief and confusion in his wake.Ryan Lo was meant to be great. What happened?Underspindelves beneath the pressure that forges a champion, and the vulnerability that makes a coming of age: the crackling intensity of a match, the push and pull of first love, and the great injustices committed within our closest relationships.’A kaleidoscopic novel . . . Zhao’s prose is a marvel’Rob Franklin, author ofGreat Black Hope’Leaves a trail of fire in its wake . . . An electric debut’Jenny Tinghui Zhang, author ofFour Treasures of the Sky’An unconventional and stylish portrait of a table tennis wunderkind . . . this book will immerse you in its high-stakes world until the very last page’Alina Grabowski, author ofWomen and Children First