From an exciting new voice in literary fiction, a transfixing story about an expatriate in southern China and his burgeoning relationship with a seamstress intent on inspiring dramatic political change.Alex Cohen, a twenty-six year old Jewish Bostonian, is living in southern China, where his father runs their familyowned shoe factory. Alex reluctantly assumes the helm of the company, but as he explores the plant`s vast floors and assembly lines, he comes to a grim realization: employees are exploited, regulatory systems are corrupt and Alex`s own father is engaging in bribes to protect the bottom line. When Alex meets a seamstress named Ivy, his sympathies begin to shift. She is an embedded organizer of a prodemocratic Chinese party, secretly sowing dissonance among her fellow labourers. Will Alex remain loyal to his father and his heritage? Or will the sparks of revolution ignite?Deftly plotted and vibrantly drawn, `The Emperor of Shoes` is a timely meditation on idealism, ambition, fatherson rivalry and cultural revolution, set against a vivid backdrop of social and technological change.”Spencer Wise`s `The Emperor of Shoes` is one of the most complex, nuanced, character rich first novels I have ever read. It is utterly original in portraying a twenty-first century Jewish diaspora, with one foot in homeland America and one foot in Asia creating consumer products, and, for Wise s protagonist, with an accompanying empathy for China s grassroots aspirations. Wise comes to us fullyflighted as a master stylist and a compelling storyteller” Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize winner”What a haunting and intelligent debut novel. The confident and assured prose evokes easily the beauty of the complex relationships, the ugliness of the situation in the shoe factory, and the difficulty Alex faces when deciding between following his heart and his head. Just stunning” Louise Beech, author of `How to Be Brave`, `The Mountain in My Shoe` and `Maria in the Moon`